No Matter What They Say
by DescribeTheNight
Summary: ICHIHIME! She crawled up in her bed, shutting herself away from the world. She didn't want to go out. The war with Aizen was over, yes, but her savior had to be brought back to soul society. She was useless and so were her powers. She will never be able to meet Ichigo again, or will she?
1. Chapter 1

**Ichihime pairing! Don't you just love them? I don't own the characters so yea.. enjoy!**

* * *

She couldn't sleep.

Her mind was racing.

Sure, she was safe and sound; back in that little place that was her home. But why couldn't she sleep? After that war with lord Aizen, she should be jumping for joy she was even alive. Staring at the ceiling, she pictured the days in that godforsaken cell, surrounded by evil people and evil powers.

"Her power… it rejects all forms of phenomena. In fact, it oversteps the limitations… set by god." Aizen had made a theory about her power too.

_Kurosaki-kun. Kurosaki-kun.. Kurosaki-kun…_

Tears rolled down her cheeks. Aizen had said that. It was possible to reject everything fate had offered to anybody that she felt close to her. But why didn't it work, on her savior? He was everything she ever wanted, everything that made her feel herself again.

Kurosaki-kun protected her. In return, she wanted to protect him for just one time. Was she at all useless? Was she weak? Her face gleamed as her tears reflected the moonlight.

* * *

She thought he won when she saw him. His face screamed victory and joy all over. But he fell, right on her, soaking her torn dress in blood. Her powers were of no use. They took him away from her to soul society. THEY didn't believe her powers. It wasn't like she wanted them to think of it as a godly inhuman strength, but she had healed so many of their men. Perhaps he was dead? A thought floated up in her mind.

Her voice suddenly cracked as she remembered the day Urahara-san announced on behalf of soul society telling her, "Sorry to lay the big news, Orihime-san. But Ichigo-san is now… an actual soul reaper."

She nodded before running away. She didn't know how to react, she didn't know how messed up her emotions are. Anger, sadness, confusion and yet happiness. She just shut herself in her apartment, not leaving even a step outside her safe barrier.

Tatsuki came over 3 times today, but she couldn't bring herself to open the door. Just sitting on her bed, rolling and crying. And when night falls, she would talk to the moon, expressing her feelings to something that could represent him. She probably looked like a homeless woman, now that her hair felt like a bird's nest, her eyelids weighing her down.

What would it feel like for Kurosaki-kun? Surely he would be happy, training with Rukia and Renji.

A knock was heard and someone rang the bell. No, she would stay in bed too. It was mean, but she really didn't feel like showing her face to the world. She was useless, and useless people shouldn't be all proud and stuff. And then a knock sounded by her window just as she wanted to start talking to the crescent moon. She swaged the curtains to find a message scratched neatly on her window.

**No matter what they say…**

She recognized the handwriting. Kurosaki-kun… Her eyes were all teary again. No, it wasn't possible. He's in soul society. He's in whatever division being a soul reaper. Perhaps he was promoted to be captain of whatever division. He wouldn't be here, back in Karakura town. And even if he was back, he wouldn't have bothered to visit her.

"Orihime," She didn't realize she was staring at the orangette all along. She didn't realize she had subconsciously opened the windows, staring at the moon when he popped up. "Kurosaki-kun…" She couldn't care less how bad she looked right now. Her fingers softly touched his face, just to see if he was real and not just some illusion.

He embraced her as she sobbed, gripping his shihaksho. No, he wasn't wearing a captain's haori, nor was he wearing a lieutenant's badge. Good, he was just a good old soul reaper. "No matter what they say, Inoue, no matter what they say…" His eyes were watery too. "I love you. Even if I'm not here anymore. I won't go back, I'll be here, just like Urahara-san. I'll live in a gikai, and I'll stay here with you, I'll protect you forever, I won't give a damn even if they're gonna send someone to capture me. Inoue, I missed you so much when I was in soul society. I miss your smiles and your healing techniques, I miss everything about you. I was so lonely, Inoue. I was so lonely there. I didn't know you were so important to me until that moment when I was in soul society. I love you Inoue!" He whispered in her ear, his tears dripped onto her shirt.

"Kurosaki-kun, I…I… I miss you too. I miss you so much. I loved you even more! Kurosaki-kun." Her chokes and sobs were loud enough to be heard by Ichigo alone. "I never thought this day would happen, Kurosaki-kun…" She smiled weakly. "Yeah, me too, Inoue. No matter what they say," he was interrupted. "I'll love you for light years to come." He bent down, reaching for her lips as she finished his sentence for him. "Love, never felt so magical, Inoue." He smiled, kissing her.

* * *

Tada! Reviews? Don't forget to fav it and follow me 3


	2. Chapter 2

**Ermilus: keep it up. I want more Ichihime against Sereitei.**

_**Well guess what? Wish granted! I'm Santa this year xD**_

3333

4 days after Aizen's defeat

Ichigo's P.O.V

"Oi, king."

I blinked away the blinding purple spots from my eyes. I feel so empty I don't think it's possible to be felt. "Can you be any slower, king?' The horrible excuse for an auto tune blasted in my ears. "I know! What do you want from me, asshole?" I barked back, a pang of pain coursing through my whole body but my right eye.

My visions were changing colors, what was supposed to be white became black, and what was black became white. "What did you do?"I tried not to rush my words. My body might be paralyzed, but no way in hell am I not going to punch him. "Calm down, hothead. You're covered up like Aizen. Should've called you bondage-Ichigo already." Hichigo's voice stung me.

I was beside the old man, staring at what seemed like a mummy in a wheelchair. That would be me, or Orihime with our orange strands of hair. "That's me? What's going on?" I moved forward. The mummy in front moved too, but fell to the floor with a sad thump.

"Kurosaki Ichigo…"

I moved to see the old man beside me. He was looking at the other me lying on the floor. "With the help of Captain Kurotsuchi and Captain Unohana, Kurosaki Ichigo's conditions are stable and well." The old man spoke quietly.

I heard Rukia and Renji sigh. A smile crept up my face.

Old man continued, "We have also informed Urahara Kisuke to break the news to Kurosaki Ichigo's family. But that is not the news I have to report today." He was replied by eerie silence.

"With the soul king injured beyond comparison, the members of squad zero sent a letter with the soul king's agreement this morning to me." Old man's face was grim.

I scan the captains' faces, which was all wide-eyed. "The letter was that we do not entitle Kurosaki Ichigo any ranks, which we were supposed to, given that he will be the captain of the new 14th division."

"What? Wait. What is it?" I was dumbfounded.

"The letter was to crown Kurosaki Ichigo as the new soul king. The members of squad zero will arrive in five days." Old man sighed, seemingly pained. "A king?" I feel Hichigo's wicked smile forming. "Any objections?" Old man turned towards all the captains.

I saw Byakuya with his eyebrows knitted, as well as Renji who was standing behind Byakuya. I glanced at the back of Ukitake, and saw Rukia on the verge of breaking down. Is being the soul king that bad?

"Regarding this, Kurosaki Ichigo is restricted to do the following," Old man sighed, a scroll in his hand. "He will not enter in the world of the living; should not leave Seireitei until the member of squad zero arrives; Kurosaki Ichigo's zanpaktou will be sealed for the meantime, as he will be given a reforged version of Zangetsu; He is restricted from entering the Sokyoku Hill and the Senzaikyu; He is also restricted to enter anywhere near the great Seirei gates. This is all that is informed by the members of the zero squad. We have no rights to object to this." He rolled the scroll back.

Kenpachi's shoulders hung as he messed his hair. Shunsui sighed. Toshiro folded his arms and looked away. Ukitake furrowed his eyebrows.

"Was it that bad?" I asked myself. Hichigo scratched his head. "Well, you can read their expression can't you?" He made a weird face as if he felt disgusted.

"Captain Commander, I have a request." Rukia stepped forward, ignoring astonished Byakuya in the background. "Yes, lieutenant of the 13th division, Kuchiki Rukia?" The old man opened one of his eyes. "I would like Kurosaki Ichigo to stay in the Kuchiki manor until the arrival of the members of the zero squad." Rukia swallowed.

I'm confused. "Rukia? What's all of this? Rukia!" I tried shouting. Rukia didn't even look my way.

"I refuse." Byakuya stepped forward, straight faced.

I looked back at Rukia, whose mouth opened as if to say something, but shut it quickly. Rukia shook her head, her eyes squeezed shut. "Understood, nee-sama." Rukia never looked so devastated before. I walked to her, a hand on her shoulder. She didn't feel it, but I felt better. It feels nice that she's doing this for a mummy still on the ground with no help whatsoever.

"Thanks, Rukia." I felt bad for her. She can't see me. She's crying. Renji is shocked to his tailbone. Byakuya is shattering her hopes and dreams, though I would want to know why I should be in Byakuya's house.

The old man looked down at Rukia, who was bowing while cupping her face as tears flowed from her eyes. I glared at Byakuya. Will he ever change if I punch his face now? Rukia twitched a little, and looked up. "But, nee-sama…" I find Rukia's face of desperation a bit disgusting. Byakuya sighed, and said the same answer again. "I refuse."

"I will allow Kuchiki Rukia's request. This is the least I would do for Kurosaki Ichigo." Old man studied the captains for a reaction. I laughed a little as I looked at Byakuya's face. He was scowling so hard as he mouthed out "Understood."

Hichigo let out a dissatisfied sound. "This feels like we're dying or shit like that."

"Eh?!" I was shocked. "I'm dead?!" Goosebumps crawled up my skin as I fell to the ground. I looked at my hand, which was pale white. "Did I become Ulquiorra or something?" If I could get away from it, I would, but I can't. "Idiot! Idiot! How stupid are you? Are you even suit to be king like this?" Hichigo was screaming. "You're in my body! My body, damnit!"

"Oh." I gave a nervous laugh to no one in particular. But how is Orihime? How is she coping if I'm dead? I feel so guilty now. How am I supposed to feel guilty if I'm dead? "My head hurts!" I whined. Hichigo practically snapped. "How old are you? Get a grip! Is this what I get for sacrificing my powers to you? You dumb fuck! I don't even know why I even decided to do this! Get back in your own little bondage outfit. I'm sick of this shit!" He screamed.

My visions blurred.

I woke up in a big room filled with nothing.

I saw a figure behind the door. "Rukia?" I mumbled questioningly. The door slid open in a second to revealing shocking red hair. "Oh, Renji." I looked away, ignoring him. "What do you mean, 'Oh, Renji.'?" He shouted, pointing at the bags under his eyes. "Captain Kuchiki made me sit here all night guarding you!" He threw a fit.

"Sorry." I tried getting up. "About time you woke up though. Rukia was begging Captain Kurotsuchi to wake you up with drugs." Renji shrugged. "Should I be grateful or mortified?" I looked at him. "Ah, well…" He scratched his head laughing.

The daily pang hit my chest again. I'm dead, aren't I?

"How's Orihime?" I subconsciously spoke. "Orihime-san?" Renji stopped for a second. "Ichigo, you imbecile!" I heard Rukia screamed, and a warm foot on my face a second later. "What was that for?" I grabbed at my red face. "You imbecile! You made me go all the way to the 12 division barracks and beg for you to wake up, and later find you talking to Renji?" Rukia pointed her index finger at me.

"Rukia, behave." I saw Byakuya standing at the door. "Kurosaki Ichigo, I see that you are awake." Byakuya glared at me and left. Rukia scurried after Byakuya, to be left with a 'I don't like you' tone from her brother's voice. "I will go report to Captain Commander."

Rukia came back and sat down beside me. "What do you need to know now, is that you're gonna be the soul king in four days. Your family are perfectly fine with you being dead-" Rukia stopped when I whispered my question that no one answered.

"Orihime."

"Orihime?" Rukia looked back at me. "Orihime! Where is she? How is she doing?!" I stood up, my voice raised. "I don't know." Was all I could get from her. From somewhere in the distance of the huge room, a screen popped out. In it stood Urahara-san smiling, "Hey, Ichigo-san! How's it up there in Soul Society?" He waved his fan, obviously amused. "Okay.., I guess." I stuttered, trying to stop myself from asking about Orihime.

"Ori…Hime…" I still said it without me knowing it. I stared at the screen blankly, and quickly thought of some excuse. "Haha… What am I saying? I-I just remembered her shunshun- rika or something like that-" I was cut off.

"Ah, about Orihime, Ichigo-san… She hasn't been out at all. She's shut in her room, crying." Urahara-san leaned in to check on my face as I heard the word 'crying'. "How is she? Has she been eating? I need to talk to her! Can you link me to her or something? Please, Urahara-san!" I stumbled forward towards the screen until I was so close I saw the pixels. "Unfortunately, no… But I can set this screen up to her apartment so you can see what she's doing. I'll warn you first though, Ichigo-san, it might break your heart."

I went silent.

My heart… broken?

"If this might break my heart… Then I can't imagine what it would be like for Orihime… She's broken to the core, isn't she?" I mumbled under my breath. I felt heat rush up my cheeks, my eyes began to water. "Urahara-san…" I slowly spoke. "Yes?" He replied back, his face hidden by his fan.

"Link me to her…"

"Now."


	3. Chapter 3

Ichigo's P.O.V

The loading screen was said to load for a good 10 minutes. I sat there, my head hung as I wander into my thoughts. Rukia and Renji left for what I thought was ages ago. Renji said something like "Stay strong." What does that mean?

The screen let out a fuzzy sound.

I leaned closer to it.

"Kurosaki-kun!"

I stumbled back.

There I saw, a princess, curled up in her bed, her mouth repeating the same words as two white streams of tears continuously flowed down her face. She looked so empty; so lost…

So hollow.

I felt my cheeks flare up as my visions began to blur in a thick glaze of water. Is this Orihime? Her eyes were swollen from crying. Her shirt was wrinkled beyond human recognition. Her hair lost its shine. I let my hand reach towards her, trying to just somehow touch her. My hand materialized over the screen as the screen let out a loud buzz.

I pulled my hand back. My hand traced towards my heart. "Orihime…" My voice was cracked. I clenched at my heart, and looked at the sunset. "How long have you been doing this, Hime?" My eyes hurt from looking at the sun. My eyes looked into the screen. My heart aches so much. She was still curled there, tugging at the bed sheets, soaking the bed in her endless streams of tears.

"Hime…" Did it hurt so much to her that I'm up here? If I've been in her place, would it hurt so much too? My thoughts trailed. And I came to a conclusion. It did. It will hurt so much I probably can't move. It hurts so badly… To know that we're worlds apart.

I saw Byakuya at the corners of my eyes. Realizing my tear stained face, I rubbed at them hard as if I could erase them from existence. My bandaged body hurts, but it'll never hurt as much as my little beating heart. "Byakuya? What are you doing here?" I called out, facing him with a fake grin. "No need to act fake with me, Kurosaki Ichigo. I brought in your dinner." Byakuya scowled as he brought in a tray of delicious food that I had no intention of touching. "Why are you wearing that?" I looked at his outfit. For some weird reason, he wore a frilly maid costume.

Maybe he's into it? The cosplay thing.

I then noticed the chappy bunny drawn with markers on the right side of his silk white apron. Hichigo snickered in amusement as I tried my best not to break into a fit of laughter. "The chappy bunny… Rukia-" I couldn't finish my sentence. "Yes. She told me to cheer you up." His face was dotted with sweat.

I snickered like Hichigo, but regretted it immediately after. Why am I laughing when Orihime is over there crying? It felt so wrong. Everything feels so wrong here.

I miss my psychotic dad.

I miss Karin.

I miss Yuzu.

I miss Chad, Ishida, Keigo, Mizuiro and even Tatsuki.

For some odd reason, I miss Don Kanonji.

I even miss Kon and his perversion with well-endowed women and with Rukia.

I miss everything that I had when I was still alive. Regardless with my powers or even before that.

Looking at the tray of sashimi, katsu and rice, and a whole lot of stuff that I wouldn't care about in front of me, I feel as if I could cry again. I'd prefer Yuzu's curry than any of these expensive stuff, even more, I'd prefer Yuzu's curry than the most expensive food on Earth.

Looking at my constipated face, Byakuya sighed. "I will take my leave now. Enjoy your dinner, Kurosaki Ichigo." Byakuya got up and left, a thud as he slid the door back in its place. Good, I thought. That's good. There's nothing I want more than to be just alone, with a hologram that was nothing like the Inoue Orihime that I loved so dearly.

My spine gave up on supporting my bandaged frame. I leaned against the wooden floor as my hands covered my eyes. I like it dark. I just want to feel the slightest bit of what she has to feel now. Locked up in a cage in an empty void. No one caring for her. Helpless.

"Hime…" I whispered in my awful crackling voice. "Hime…"

I feel so tired. I pressed hard on my eyelids, to feel the weird pain as if my eyes were swollen. I heard her voice from across the room. Soft and cracked, just like mine. "Kurosaki-kun…" she started, her snuffles and chokes pained me. I got up, my thumbs wiping away my tears as my eyes face the screen. My eyes already hurt from my rubbing and pressing and crying.

She opened her window, and there was a bright reflection imprinted on her face. Her eyes looked so dull. Her skin looked dry. Dark circles loop over each other under her Payne grey orbs. My princess…

Her fingers, wriggly lines on the tips, drew a circle again and again. "Kurosaki-kun…" She stated again. "How is it up there? I bet it's nice, having Rukia and Renji with you. Are you promoted, Kurosaki-kun? Did you find a place to live? I'm so worried about you, Kurosaki-kun, even until now." Her fingers traced the circle for about the 15th time. "After you left… Time felt like it stopped. I cried so much. I miss you, Kurosaki-kun." Her nose was red, like Rudolph's.

I sat quietly, listening to her words carefully. She didn't sound cheerful at all. She sounded devastated. "Tatsuki came over 3 times since the day after your…" She choked and coughed, her tears overflowed from the rims of her eyes. Her hand clenched at her heart. I felt my hand tugging at my bandages too. "Your death." She hiccupped, her eyes glistening in tears.

My death…

"I can't do it, Kurosaki-kun!" She let her voice rise a bit. I found that depressing. "I can't let you go, Kurosaki-kun! You're the one who made me find myself. You saved me. You helped me. You cheered me on so many things. You let me find a reason to be myself again. You brought me back from the edge of death!" I can feel her shaking even from here.

I sat quietly, hearing all her confessions to the moon.

"Thank you, Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime tried bowing, but I understand if she's not in the mood to.

At that moment, I heard a strange vibration from the screen and Orihime froze. "Ah…" She put on a faint smile. "S-sorry, Kurosaki-kun… It was my phone." She tried to play it off, her embarrassment. "Orihime…" She's faking it so that if I could see her, I would be relieved. "Honestly…" The eyes that shone when the moon's soft glow reached it looked down at the windowsill. "Tatsuki, Chizuru, Michiru and a whole lot of people had been texting and calling me." She hiccupped, her tears collecting at the rims of her eyes. I wanted to wipe them dry. I wanted to hug her. I wanted to kiss her and tell her everything's going to be alright. I wanted to rescue her from her little cage of insanity.

No, this is not the Orihime I love.

My hands hovered against the cursed screen. Why couldn't my hands just reach her from this hologram? "I… I don't want to read them. I don't want to look at those messages if there isn't any from you!" Her eyes squeezed itself shut, her hands tugging at her heart, her head shaking from side to side, her tears falling like the shattered pieces of our hearts. My eyes widen at this. My phone…

So what if I couldn't get back into the world of the living? I'd text her! I'd call her! I'd let my call last for as long as I live. I swung open the door towards a lit room. "Rukia?" I nearly slipped as I slid the door. "Ichigo? What are you doing here?" Renji looked at me, his green tea in his hand. "My cell phone! Give it to me!" I yelled at Rukia. I don't care anymore. I just want to listen to Orihime myself. I just want to feel her close to me.

Rukia handed me the phone, her eyes full of suspicion. "Thanks." I barely said it as I ran back to my room. My fingers dashed across the keyboard. I miss you so much, Hime.

I love you.

I love you so much it hurts.

I pressed the send button, only to be greeted by a face of Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi in a chibi version. "You can't send anything out!" It yelled. I pressed send again. "You can't send anything out, substitute shinigami!" It yelled again.

I tossed my phone away. My fingers ran over my bangs. My cheeks burned as I felt the first tears fell.

I just wanted to be with you, Hime.

Why did fate have to separate us?

"I love you so much, Inoue."

Hime.

I'll do whatever it takes, if it meant I'll see you again.

I rubbed my eyes and looked at the screen again. Orihime slept by the windowsill.

I smiled to myself.

I don't care about being a king or whatever, I just want to be Orihime's boyfriend, maybe even more than that.

I let my hand through the screen and let it buzz there.

I'll find a way before squad zero.

"I promise, Hime."

* * *

I saw a lot of grammar mistakes in the previous one! =="

I hope you guys will like this.

Sorry again if i space too much... It adds more drama.

Reviews? xD


	4. Chapter 4

**hello my munchkinsssssss :3**

**I'm sorry for the wait that must have lasted a millennia BUT HERE IT IS WHOOOOOOOOTTTTTTT! ANY comments, questions, concerns or just compliments or hates is welcomed here! Thank you for the wait, now read on, my kings and queens~**

* * *

Chapter 4

I woke up as early as I could, which according to my restricted now-as-good-as-useless cell phone was 5:45am. I dressed myself before slipping out into the hallways of Byakuya's 'friendly' manor. There were doors everywhere, and I don't suppose I know which door leads to the main gate. The parquet of the manor creaked with almost every step I took. I remembered something from my childhood.

When dad was sleeping and I was hungry, I would often tiptoe downstairs to find food.

I got so good at it I knew which specific spot would creak and that tiptoeing with the heels of my feet were easier.

Dad would wake up and find the cookies gone. Those really were the days I want to live again. Not here, in this gigantic prison cell known as Soul Society.

I slid open a random door gently and slowly, and decided it was best to bite my tongue so I wouldn't die of laughter and embarrassment. Rukia was cuddling with Renji... and Chappy. I closed the door and decided to tiptoe a bit further. Really, Byakuya should make some signboards.

If I had to pee, I wouldn't know where to go at all.

I slid open another door. Immediately, wind slapped me in the face. I opened my eyes and saw a beautiful garden. I poked my head out, making sure that I was not sighted. The garden was encircling a Cherry Blossom tree that scattered its petals in the wind. There were flowers I never knew of, ponds with gigantic Koi... and a low enough wall for me to climb through.

I proceeded to perform a James Bond-like escapism Kurosaki Ichigo style by holding my phone as a gun and shooting at random targets while jumping across the wall and landing with an imaginary explosion in the background as I casually slide on my sunglasses.

Everything was silent on the other side of the wall. At a far corner on my left, two buildings glowed in the now Payne grey moonlight. That must be the 12th division, just like Rukia said. The buildings are full of weird stuff, run by an even weirder being. There was little clicking noises that led to the building, so I followed it.

I decided to run a little plan through my head.

My main mission now is to escape this place in 72 hours.

Reason? I need to reach my beloved.

Risk taken? Anything, everything as long as I can see her again.

Plan A: arrive at the 12th division, ask about the message in the phone. Whilst Professor Crazy-Brain reasons, find loopholes. Loopholes? Doorways, monitor screens and ripped space continuums.

Plan B: if Professor Crazy-Brain is not present, leave.

Plan C: if Professor Crazy-Brain does not reason, try to reason.

Plan D: if Professor Crazy-Brain thinks something's going fishy, run for my life.

I guess I covered all of the possible scenarios... As I neared the glowing buildings, I started to feel uneasy. What if the Captain finds out what I want to do, and had got rid of every single hope I have to go back to the world of living? He's a smart man.

And I won't be able to see my Inoue anymore...

Never again...

I walked through the gates of the 12th division which was unguarded and unlocked, considering that there weren't even gates. The left building's door was ajar, which I reluctantly pushed it open.

"You're not allowed here, substitute shinigami!" Captain Kurotsuchi distastefully growled, his back facing me as he typed something into the gigantic monitor. I couldn't quite make any sense of what it was displaying, but I felt as if I would regret if the screen was displaying something important. "Ah, sorry about that... I couldn't sleep well wondering why I couldn't send the message..."

"Fascinating... you fool! You couldn't sleep because you couldn't send a petite little message to this Inoue? I would consider your act as fatal stupidity. Your love will never exist, boy." He turned to snicker at me before returning to work in front of his screen.

I looked everywhere as he typed on and on. I really don't know what there is for me that can help me jump back into the world of living.

"How about Zangetsu? Where is he?" I tried to scan harder. I don't know anything here. It would've been better if I could bring Urahara-san with me.

"You mean your precious little dagger? I was vowed to not tell you where it is, just like the rest of the Seireitei. Tsk, hopeless and troublemaking you are. Honestly don't know why you could become a soul king. If they'd let me dissect you and test you for a bit, perhaps I could come up with a solid conclusion... unlike that stunt you had pulled on Sosuke Aizen. Perhaps... perhaps..."

I didn't have a plan to this. I never thought that he would have wanted to dissect me.

That should conclude with Plan D.

Run.

I stood there for a while longer, my face examining the whitewashed floor. I tried my best to ignore his answers but... his words stung. And I mean... really, really, tremendously stung.

My love will never exist...

I am hopeless...

My dreams are hopeless...

"You disgust me, substitute shinigami. This love you talk about is trash, you know that deep down inside. You know that you feel hopeless. And yet you mask it, and tell everyone its all right. You will be staying here until squad zero arrives, like it or not. And until then, you cannot escape. You know the consequences of escaping, yes?" I nodded at his sentence.

He knocked all the confidence out of me in one shot.

Headstrike. Jackpot. Checkmate. Bingo. He wins.

I left without a sound.

As I walk back to Byakuya's manor like a drunkard, holding back my tears, I ran into a flustered and panting Toshiro. "Kurosaki Ichigo! Where have you been?!" He said this as he stomped towards me. "Do you know how much trouble we all will be in if you are gone!" He grabbed me by the collar.

"Don't know." I stared hard at him. That's right, I have every right to be like this because I was forced into this contract. I was held against my own will to become the Soul King. They knew I would decline the offer, didn't they? They knew it all along.

Toshiro let go of me and heaved a sigh. "Well, at least we've found you. Come with me immediately, you are late for your trials." He turned his heels and began walking. I followed him, checking my cell phone.

Its already 6:30am...

Time is fast here...

"Wait, Toshiro!-" I was cut short. "I am Captain Hitsugaya!" Obviously annoyed, he turned to look at me. "I need to go back to Byakuya's manor real quick." Please make him say okay, please just fulfill this one request. I don't want to forget anything that I've seen in the 12th division labs. I have to tell everything to Urahara-San as soon as possible.

"No." He lifted his face up, annoyed. "We don't have time. I'll be put in punishment too if I don't bring you back in 30 minutes." He grabbed me by the sleeve and ran for it.

I wouldn't say it would feel good, but Toshiro was so good at flash stepping I was like a plastic bag being carried by the wind. I drifted through the rooftops of random buildings.

I was curious. I want to see Orihime through that buzzing hologram, see what she's up to, see if she's undergoing the human routine everyone does. What does she eat at a time like this? Did she go out? How about Tatsuki or the others? Did they come to visit her? Urahara-san, is he mendling with the plans of bringing me back? If I was there now, maybe we could agree to some sort of plan... I thought of these as the scenery changed into a luscious forest.

"Kurosaki..." Toshiro said as he continued dragging me. "Yeah?"

"We're well aware that you would feel uneasy here, but think about it. You will be Soul King soon, and that title would have meant the world to me. You would be the pillar that joins the worlds together. I would have chose to be him. So I'm going to ask you, will you take the offer?"

He looked at me, still flash stepping.

"The decision has already been decided against my will. I wouldn't have taken the job, you guys already know that. So you didn't ask me, didn't acknowledge my rights."

"True. But it wasn't our decision. It was squad zero's."

"It doesn't matter." Just thinking about this is killing my nerves. Toshiro sighed and slowed down. "We'll be there soon... very soon."

I still didn't know what my trials are. I still don't know how Orihime is doing. I still don't know if I could go back. I still don't know who this 'squad zero' is.

"Kurosaki has arrived." He bowed slightly and left. I was left alone in front of a waterfall, with no one but the old man staring at me from the crystal clear water. "Kurosaki... Ichigo." He spoke, standing up. "Your trials have begun. And there are 13 trials that you must go through, all in the course of 3 days. Each trial will be witnessed and judged fit by me, while a division captain will teach you. Today, it is the 13 division captain, Ukitake Jushiro."

I hadn't noticed Ukitake was meditating behind the waterfall. He walked out in a white robe, but the robe wasn't soaked... in fact, there was not even a splash of water on it. I looked at him.

13 trials in 3 days... and a secret plan that has nothing to do with the soul king.

"Ah.. Kurosaki-San! Today you will undergo a trial that tests your spirit."

"Spirit?" I looked back at Ukitake. I am already a spirit, aren't I? "This will test your being as a whole, now... Stand in the middle of the waterfall, let the water run down on you." He guided me as I reluctantly did so. I shuddered as the cold water hit me like icy bullets fired by a machine gun. I stood there, trying to maintain my balance against the hitting water.

"What do you feel?" Ukitake stood in front of me, examining me. "Imbalance... unsteady... unsure?" Trying to find my words was hard enough, but doing that under a spine chilling waterfall?

I let out a shaky breath.

"Now take a deep breath, try to control your spiritual energy. The water is hitting you, making you feel unsteady, right?" I nodded at the advice, but what I did was the opposite. I held my breath, trying to suppress my energy as I wondered why. Is this energy going to form some kind of barrier around me?

"No, no. Kurosaki-San... holding your breath will only make matters worse. There is nothing to fear. The water will not consume you." Ukitake waved his hands at me, guiding me.

I slapped myself mentally and tried again. Somehow, I feel my body slowly lifting off the ground. "What's happening?" I immediately blurted out, followed by a solid Thump! as my bum hit the cold shallow pond ground.

He helped me up, not saying a word. In a distance, the old man shook his head. "Kurosaki Ichigo... you have no time to waste. Learn quickly, master it quickly as the world depends on you once again. The soul king's role is very important, and if there is not one present, the worlds will begin to fall apart."

"I understand." Really, who wouldn't after having to save the world again and again while getting hurt? Ever since Rukia made me a Shinigami, all I ever did was protect the world, but not my loved ones. I wanted to do that now. To be a little selfish, to protect my loved ones again. I straighten my back, eyes closed.

I started to inhale slowly, suppressing my spiritual energy. I picture them to envelop my body, protecting me against the water.

"Now hold still a little more, Kurosaki-San!" Ukitake called out to me. "You'll have to stay like this for another 3 minutes for the trial to be concluded a pass." I could feel Ukitake smiling at me. And away, at the edge of the pond, the old man was calculating my movements. I continued to breathe in and out, like someone fast asleep. Really, it feels as if I'm lying on my bed again... soft, comfortable...

But without the presence of my original home, with dad... with Karin and Yuzu.

"Okay! You can stop now, Kurosaki-San. Your trial has been concluded a success." Ukitake smiled and clapped softly at me. I let myself go, and suddenly a hieving splash of water hit me like a hurricane. That's right, I forgot that I was standing under a waterfall.

I rubbed at my sore head and smiled at him. "Now go have your breakfast, Kurosaki Ichigo. And then, meet me at the entrance of the 12th division lab." The old man verbally waved me away.

"Captain Commander." Byakuya appeared behind me, unsoaked from the waterfall. "We will take our leave. Excuse us." I followed Rukia's freezing cold brother out of the forest to his manor.

"I believe you have escaped my manor this morning. Is there an explanation towards your action?" While we were walking, he popped up the question.

I wasn't prepared for this.

"I... uh... I wanted to ask Captain Kurotsuchi about my phone." I could still feel the phone in my white robe pocket, which miraculously survived the water. "You will not leave your room under any circumstances unless you have my permission." He continued with his arrogant expression as he spoke.

"But what if it was urgent? Like Diarrhea?" In my room, there wasn't even a toilet. "I will move your current resting location." He looked at me, eyebrows furrowed. Through his eyes I can hear him silently asking me: Why Diarrhea?

"Well, exclude the Diarrhea part, what if it was something that I had to do? You're busy and so is Renji and Rukia so you guys can't escort me anywhere. You don't even have guards in your house. What if I had something really important to do?"

He looked at me for a second. "You are not allowed to go anywhere."

"What if I said No?" I glared back at him. He's going to shut me in a prison within a prison already?

"That was not a question."

I looked away and he did the same. Freedom really isn't a choice here when you're a great asset. But wait... I could easily beat them since I'm their winning card, right? If I betray them and join another side, then they'll lose almost everything. I always come here to save the day. I never knew I had a choice... until now.

Could this be my chance out of here?

Using the word betray, I can go back to Inoue... I could be like Yoruichi-san, I'll betray everything to go back to what I feel is right. To be next to Inoue, to protect her.

But time is not on my side.

"Eat up. Rukia made this for you." Renji sat in front of me as he placed the tray on the parquet floor. "She's going to explode when she sees you. Who knew you were going to run out of the manor?" Renji whispered hoarsely. "Rukia made this when she was mad or before she was mad?" I don't want to take the risk of getting poisoned, I didn't even know Rukia can cook.

"I'm guessing before. Right after she was done, you came back and Captain Kuchiki told her and she exploded at me. She assumed you were going through the trial, not jump out of the wall." Renji scratched his temples as I ate.

Surprisingly, it was edible. Bland, but edible.

"I guess I'm gonna take you to the 12th division labs now." Renji helped me up. I was silent the whole time in Byakuya's manor. I was thinking hard. There wasn't any time to communicate with Urahara-san, there wasn't even time to break my heart watching my Inoue cry. There was something I need to do. I need to think of a plan myself.

And the first thing to do is to get over these stupid trials.

I walked along with Renji as he whistled. If it meant that there were 13 trials, then no doubt all the trials are associated with the respective captains. Captain Kurotsuchi, I wonder what his trials would be...

If Captain Ukitake was Spirit...

Captain Kurotsuchi will most likely be Pain, Creativity or Insanity.

Kenpachi would be Strength.

Toshiro would be Courage.

The 9th division might be with Shuuhei, so it would be Responsibility.

Captain Kyouraku could be Strategy.

Captain Komamura would be Bravery.

Byakuya would be Calm.

Aizen is locked away, so I would go with Lieutenant Momo, so she'd be Peace.

Captain Unohana? Conceal.

Kira might be Fear.

Captain Sui Feng should be Loyalty.

The old man, no doubt Intelligence.

But I could be wrong, I mean, I will be wrong. I don't really know them, not as much as I know my friends. These were the captains that protected Seireitei, the Soul Society and ultimately, the World of the Living. But they see me as someone strong and special. They trusted me...

I really don't want to betray them. But I have to, no matter what. I want to reach Inoue.

I shook my head, shaking the worries off. Renji sighed. "Don't think about it too much. Honestly, he scares me too." Renji slapped my back as a sign of encouragement. I gave him a very sarcastic thankful nod. He snickered and left.

I looked at the entrance of the 12th division labs again. the old man stood there and watched me." To sum it down, Kurosaki Ichigo... We've arranged your schedule. Today, you will be undergoing 6 trials. Tomorrow, 7 trials. The last day will be your day of rest. Collect and prepare yourself for the 6th day. That is when the Squad Zero arrives."

I gulped, nodding. It wasn't that I was scared of this Squad Zero, but I was scared about the trial I'll be tested now. Captain Kurotsuchi isn't a kind man.

"Ah... Welcome back, substitute shinigami. I suppose you are ready for the trial?" I hear him from the darkness as I enter an unknown room. "Do not fear, Kurosaki Ichigo. We have restricted him. You are merely going to sit here and be interrogated. You will only need to be tested once, and that is to bring the dark side out, and if you can stop him, you pass." The old man managed to calm me down. I've stopped Hichigo quite some times already... I wouldn't say I'm good, but at least I'm decent.

I sat on the floor, facing a mirror. In the mirror was my reflection. "Okay, first question." Captain Kurotsuchi started speaking through a microphone once he was comfortably sitted on a cushioned chair. I can't see him, but I pictured the scene. I immediately interrupted him.

"What do you represent?" I questioned him. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't understand though.

"I represent Insanity. Intelligence too, I might add. But primarily,I represent sanity and its counterpart. Now can we continue?" My room was surrounded by his voice as he spoke through the mic. He sounded annoyed.

"Picture this. An apocalypse happened, and people have to kill each other because it became the survival of the fittest. What will you do?"

"I will not kill unless necessary."

"Now, if you come across a psychopath who had killed someone before your eyes, what will you do?"

"I would stand there. I won't run away."

"Why?" Captain Kurotsuchi sounded confused.

"Technically, running away would signal the psychopath that I am a threat, because I have seen too much. I would fight him and try to contact the police."

"Fascinating... Next, if you were to find out a very disgusting fact about your family, let's say: they are cannibals, yet you are the only one that had not 'turned'. They have run out of victims and they chose you as the next meal. You have two choices, kill or surrender."

I stayed silent on the question. Will I kill my family? Of course not. But this is a situation where sympathy is wrong. My family is a bunch of cannibals out of control... and they want me.

"Kill."

I am selfish. But if I was not, I wouldn't survive. I love my life, even though I have said countless of times I have not. But...

I would kill Dad..

Karin..

And even Yuzu...

I shook myself off. This is an interrogation, a possibility. They want to test me in hard unimaginable situations and beg for my response. I wouldn't do that... but I would if it happened. Justice needs to be served. They killed people, and they will be punished.

"We'll go a little bit harder on you. The Earth is nearing to an end. You can choose to live on another planet. The only condition is... you must kill one of your family members, and take another non-related acquaintance with you. Who will you choose, why?"

That made no sense. Why do I need to kill off another family member? And why can't I bring my family with me? This is the part that shows utmost betrayal. Who would I rather bring along with me, who isn't important enough that I would be able to kill him without second thoughts? This all made no sense.

"I..."

"Yes, Kurosaki Ichigo? You what?" Captain Kurotsuchi spat through the Microphone.

"I'd bring Inoue, and I'll kill Yuzu." I bury my face as I said it. I am a shame of a brother. I would kill Yuzu... but why? Why would I kill her?

"Why?"

"There is not a day I can live without Inoue... and as for Yuzu, she's better off in Soul Society where it's safe unlike this new planet we'll live in."

I stood up, walking towards the metal door. I no longer want to continue. I'm beaten down to the dumps.

"Wait, Substitute Shinigami..." He sounded awfully suspicious. "Bingo." I could hear him mutter under his breath. "This is what I want you to feel!" I could imagine beside him, the old man is refraining from pinning him to the ground and sending him to an asylum.

"Nemu, fetch the needle. It is time for his dark side to awaken. Goodnight substitute Shinigami, have fun taming the beast inside you..." Behind me came a slap to the head, followed by the skin on my shoulder being pricked by a needle...

After that, all else seemed fading into the endless black oblivion...

"Good mornin', King." I hear his wicked laughter...

And then my eyes flew shut.

**so how is it? Lived up to your expectations or below? Rate it on a scale of 1 to 10 please. Do you want more? simply favourite, follow or review below. I hope you enjoyed it. Now for chapter 5 sneak preview!**

"Kurosaki-kun..." Inoue stared at the bright dot in the vast twilight sky, silently talking to the moon that represent her love as shaky breaths were exhaled.

"Before I was captured to Hueco Mundo... Ulqiorra let me say goodbye to only one person... But before that, Kurosaki-kun must have knew that I went on my own accord and must've denied it, right? To be honest, Kurosaki-kun... you were wrong. I went on my own accord, because I thought that if I did that, then you all would be safe. But I was dumb, wasn't I?" She smiled goofily at the crescent moon that lit a tiny spark in her dull eyes. "I ended up dragging everyone into a mess that I couldn't clean up, and even..."

That was when she stopped, choking on her own sobs.

"I even caused the death of you..."

From a distant corner of Ichigo's well lit room, there came the sound of wood smashing and breaking. Ichigo was punching the thin wooden walls, silently cursing as tears from his face stung his slightly bloodied hands.

"Damnit, Inoue. You shouldn't have said it. You shouldn't have.." He knelt on the parquet floor. He covered his face, his hands shaking from the impact.

"I can't bear looking at your face. You're making me hate myself more and more! I'll get out of here, okay? I'll get out of here, so stop breaking my heart already. I want to see my Inoue smile like the angel she is.."

"I swear." This was how his love felt, but he couldn't feel it... he couldn't feel it from the heart, so he felt it from his hands. The burn, the pain, the love...

for the Inoue he cherished.

of


	5. Chapter 5

**HELLOOOOOOOO THEREEEEEE. Warning; Inappropriate language is used here. If you don't like looking at swear words, then don't READ.**

**Now, I'm sorry for the delay for I am busy with a very big school project. I'm gonna establish a club, you see. So forgive me if I don't upload for a few weeks.**

**yes, this is quite short so it may be disappointing. I'M SORRY *cries***

* * *

Chapter 5

"Hey, King." From the far corner of my consciousness, I heard the voice of my inner hollow.

"Remember what I said a few months back? I think you'd remember. You remember, don't you... King?" I don't understand what left his mouth, but I let him talk on.

"I told you that I'll come back and I'll dethrone your unqualified ass and declare myself King." I hear a faint chuckle.

"I'm afraid you can't look at your own sorry ass now, but I'll tell you. I have taken over your body. You're now my horse." I hear him spit at the 'horse' part and laugh.

I couldn't see anything, even if I opened my eyes. Technically, I should be back into my inner world. An upside down Karakura town submerged in water.

But there was none.

"They sealed your inner world away. For the past 2 days, I've been floating around that endless void. They sealed the old man I'm stuck with and the entire inner world somewhere. I guess I was kept out of it. None of it matters though." Hichigo explained, still amused to be King.

"Hichigo, get off my body. You don't belong here." I called out. "I do I do I do! You don't know what real power is! All you ever did was protect! Isn't it time for a new change? Power is massive. You can do so much with it!" He started ranting. I felt my body move quite intensely, but I don't know what's going on.

"I can kill with a body now. It doesn't have to be you, cause you're a prisoner already. But I can kill so much more! I'll take down everyone I see! Even your precious. Little. Inoue."

"Then the world will be mine. It will be mine!" I shriveled in Hichigo's maniac laughter.

"Get off my body right now!" I got a little bit impatient at him mentioning Inoue, so I harden my vow. "Who would ever do that? I'm sick of you crying over your stupid bimbo bitch. How is she of any use?"

"GET OFF!" I screamed out into the void. No one calls her that. I'll take down everyone that says that!

"That's right! She's dumb and she cries so much she's practically useless! What's that little puppy love gonna do you any good? What the shit is there that will benefit you? You just got yourself in a mess! A very sorry mess!" I hear him shouting, perhaps in the empty room I was supposed to be in.

My balled fists turned white. I tried to calm myself by breathing slowly, but it won't work. Why do people always think Inoue is useless? She isn't. She's a little clumsy, a little airheaded... but I love her. Perhaps not then, but definitely now. She's cute, bubbly.

I can't stand those who underestimated her. She lived a very bad childhood.

"Hichigo, LEAVE MY BODY ALONE!" I felt as if I were turning into my Vasto Lorde form. I screamed out into the vast darkness.

"You can't stop me, you pathetic horse!" He yelled back.

* * *

In a dark, quiet, eerie room, a princess awoke from her beauty slumber. Yet, it was not a beauty slumber. The princess had not had a beauty slumber for what felt like an eternity. She awoke, not feeling fresh, but tired, drained... dead. The princess couldn't much recall that she was sleeping at all. The princess's bed was constantly soaked. Not by the rose water that a princess would drink when she wakes up, but the salty sea-like tears that escaped her once bright grey eyes.

Yes, she was crying.

But for who? She asked herself.

Then it hit her as if she was a killer on the loose, wanted by the world. The police were holding the gun, aiming for her. She had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. This is it. A thousand bullets pierced through her body, leaving her in an inhuman shape. But instead of just leaving her to bleed to death, they took her heart out. Or perhaps, showed her a beheaded head of her knight in shining armor.

She choked on her own imagination as tears scream terror from her eyes like a cloudburst.

Yes, Kurosaki Ichigo is dead.

Her beloved was up in Soul Society, a place where she once had great admiration for. She gritted her teeth and bit her lip.

She should stop crying. It's been 5 days since it happened. Kurosaki-kun's funeral was already held. His empty coffin was already buried under the ground to become a part of the nature it used to be. Kurosaki-kun's body was still okay. He was made of flesh and bone up there, unlike the others who were souls.

It was only a tad bit reassuring, but she managed to swallow her unneeded tears and chokes away.

She took a deep breath.

Her stomach was constantly grumbling. True, she hadn't eaten for 5 days. The only thing keeping her alive was her amazing ability to heal using Shun Shun Rikka. Standing on each side of her was Ayame and Shun'o looking distressed and worried.

"Orihime... you should really go and eat something. Although you know we could heal quite some spectacular stuff, we can't keep it up for long. It'll cause even more damage." She heard Ayame speak softly beside her. Shun'o nodded in response.

True, she could feel their powers weakening. Furthermore, they should rest. Their powers come from her reiatsu. The princess is currently weakened, and so are her subjects. It is no doubt that the effects will prove negative soon.

She sat on her bed with a sick and fake smile. "Okay, I'll go. You both can rest now. Don't worry." She called them off, returning the two to her clips beside her bed.

Her bangs were untidy due to the lack of clips and her lying in bed all day. It was time to do the necessary things.

She opened the fridge and was instantly feeling sadder at the contents in the fridge. She pulled out 2 eggs and the milk out and made a simple omelette. Halfway through cooking, she felt the pang in her chest again.

Someone was whispering to her how she had done nothing. Someone was whispering that he was dead, Again. Again. Someone was whispering to her she was better off doing nothing and should just starve herself to death.

She shook it away as a drop of tear sizzled onto the hot frying pan. She snapped and saw her omelette overcooking and turning a very discoloured brown. She flipped it over and the watery omelette on top spilled a little onto the kitchen counter. She bit her lip. That someone was right. She was beyond useless.

As she cleaned the kitchen counter and served herself the worst omelette ever made, she knew that she was fatally weak. Her feet trembled as they brought her to the dark living room. Kurosaki-kun fought her hollowed brother here.

She stood, cemented onto the parquet floor before she shook her head violently, looking intensely at her food to forget about her knight.

She had turned from a princess to a pauper. She swallowed down a sob and sat on the floor, eating her food silently. From a third person's view, she would be named 'Forever Alone'.

Then a bell sounded. "Tatsuki?" She felt her instincts making her stand up and move towards the door, but she willed herself to sit, unmoving.

The bell sounded again. "Orihime?" It was Tatsuki alright. She sat there, eating. She wasn't going to open the door today, and possibly never again. "Inoue-san? Are you there? I'm sorry to interrupt you... Tatsuki here is worried sick about you. Here, we'll leave down some groceries and some food for you. Get well soon. Good day." So Ishida-kun was there with her too. She got up, finished with her plate.

* * *

How am I supposed to get out? I can't see anything. All I know is that Hichigo is outside, taking over my body. It would be easier if I was back in my inner world, but now...

I gritted my teeth. "What's going on, horse? Why so silent?" I could feel his lips curving into a maniacal smile. "Get out. I'm not fooling around anymore. Let me see you." I can only fight him when I can see him. This is stupid and a waste of time. How am I supposed to get out?

There was no response. "Hichigo." Sternly this time, I spoke. "Hmmmm... No." He replied almost immediately. "Hichigo. Please. I'm not going to do anything to you." It was dumb, but I tried imagining him standing before me. What does he look like? Though I met him not too long ago, it was hard imagining his features.

There.

I nodded to myself, satisfied. He looks exactly like what my instinct told me. "Horse." I smiled.

"Former... King." As soon as I open my eyes, he was gripping at my collar, whispering. It happened! It did! This is a stupid miracle come true!

"Long time eh?" He gripped harder. "I said I'll destroy you the next time I see you, so keep your promise." A legitimate answer popped up. "Hichigo, we can't fight. We don't have swords." I yanked him away.

He charged back to me, knuckle hard and so white it's turning grey. "Fuck using them then!" His mouth was wide, smiling, heading towards me. I ducked it, pinning him to the ground. "I learned karate. Don't make me hit you. I am in no mood now." I spat at him. After him insulting Inoue, I felt a very weird sensation. It felt like my life force was being sucked out of me, making me feel depressed.

"Huh. So what if you learned Karate? Fuck's it going to do for you? You're so fucking weak you can't even stay alive in front of her!" He tried to get up from me sitting on top of him.

I let my instincts take full control at the second he said it. He said _it. _I felt like I was looking on, as the third person. Ichigo, punching his hollow. 3 strikes,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11... His hollow getting up, grabbing Ichigo's face pulling him down. A hard strike to Ichigo's head. Ichigo now at the bottom, dazed. His hollow, laughing, 5 strikes.

Ichigo's eyes turning black without warning, two hands pushed Hichigo away. Grabbing his hollow by the collar,he began kneeing him in the stomach, out of control.

As it went on for what seemed like forever.

I felt a violent spazz and was back into my point of view. Hichigo laid beside me, dazed and looking as if he was in pain. "Fuck... I knew it." He got up beside me, his bruised hand supporting his bruised head. "You really are the King huh? I'm always the horse, always the weak one..." I looked at him, surprised. Was this the sane side of Hichigo?

"Well, I guess you know you just fucking won. Now leave my fucking sight and let me scream alone. The next time I see you, I swear... I'll fucking tear your unneeded ass away from the throne." I blacked out into the white empty room I was in.

"Fascinating..." I hear Captain Kurotsuchi whispering. "Very well. You have passed this trial. I, for one, would have never let you pass but I guess, well... Captain Commander is pleased with the results. Move on, now." From the corner of my eye came Nemu, who forcefully pulled me out of the 12th division labs.

"Come with me, Kurosaki Ichigo." The old man walked out and began walking away. I took a quick peek at my phone. 8:56 a.m. I ran to catch up with him.

"I am very well pleased at your performance just now." He spoke quietly. "Performance? What did I do?" I looked back at him. "I'll show you the footage soon as Captain Kurotsuchi is done with it. For now, I am very well sure you know who your next trial master will be?" He raised an eyebrow and opened one of his eyes at me.

Kenpachi Zaraki...

"Yeah." That man is as insane as the last one. I gulped and heaved a breath, to be honest, I'm afraid of him...

"Yo, Ichigo..." I hear his maniacal tone from a distance. The old man stopped behind me. "Carry on." He ushered me.

"Yo, Ichigo. Long time eh? Now let's see who's stronger!" He charged at me without warning.

Where's Zangetsu?

Where the hell is Zangetsu?

I'm going to die!

Where is Zangetsu?

As I look at the speeding man charging at me, my mind goes blank.

"Die." My mind whispered. Hichigo whispered.

"Die, my King."


	6. Chapter 6

THOUSANDS APOLOGIES FOR THE LONG DELAY, I REALLY HOPE YOU GUYS AREN'T DEAD... ARE YOU? nah.

I hope you guys have a blessed month and stay healthy, okay?

(Many people wonder if I am mad or just really really hyper yet pessimistic, but i was actually down with fever and flu and a sore throat, so... I got revived in a pit of fire... so IMMA PHOENIX.)

* * *

I felt a sense of uneasiness as I toppled over and landed on my side. "Kenpachi!" I yelled at the insane man. "Why? Running away this time!?" He stopped and reversed to look back at me. "I won't be easily defeated this time! You're gonna need balls to take me on!" He hollered, which sounded presumably beyond Soul Society and to Hueco Mundo.

"I don't have a sword! It's not fair!" I shouted. I asked Inoue to cut off my arm just to fight Ulquiorra as an equal. I thought Kenpachi would've been like that too.

The thought of her strengthen me almost instantly. Who cares? I got to fight for her, do this all for her. The woman I will forever love if I had lived five lifetimes at once.

I gripped the side of my head. The hollow powers aren't gone, are they? Let's just hope it isn't. I slid my hand past my face and my eyes blurred for a second.

"Huh? You're gonna use little stupid tricks against me? No use! You're gonna look down on me?!" He laughed. It was true, the hollow powers weren't working. It. Wasn't. I tried it repeatedly for 4 's right...

Aizen was the last I used my powers against. I literally have no power now. I continued ducking as best as I could until the old man decided to speak. "Shinigami powers and your hollow powers are not what makes you powerful. Strength,... Heart." He opened his eyes at me.

I decided that it was time to take a risk. Whatever, Captain Unohana can repair me anyway. I balled a fist and launched it at Kenpachi, which he didn't noticed. Perhaps mom knew this day was coming, at least not against souls, but against someone.

I did another kick to his head and he tumbled back, obviously annoyed. "Damnit, I ain't gonna go down that fast, Ichigo!" He charged at me again. This time, I got a cut slashed across my arm.

I looked at him. I did three, while he did one. I ran again, catching his ankle with my hand and pulled him down. Sitting on top of him, I turned towards the old man. "Is it over yet?" I should've known. I deserved the second slash.

"Come on! That all you got? You're a baby?" He looked at me after I was shocked from the unexpected cut. Just then...

"Hey, King..." Hichigo coughed and sounded across my head. I shivered at his sudden speech. Not now, you retard. "Not now!" I yelled back at him in my mind. "You and I no longer have powers!" He only wanted to kill me just five minutes ago!

My vision turned dark and focused back into a muddy yellow. Hichigo took over. "You may not have it, but I still got some red hot sparks left, ya idiot. I ain't easily extinguished." His tone had a bit of happiness to it. He was helping me?!

"Don't kill him! I can handle it myself! Come back in!" I was back in the void, but there was a projector projecting the scene before my eyes. I shouted desperately for Hichigo to come back. He got serious. "I'm going to do this for you, King. I can't live without a body anyway. So bear with me, tell me when to stop." He clenched his fist and threw them everywhere at Kenpachi. Hichigo was cooperating with me...? Kenpachi was struggling to get on his feet. "Is that enough, King? Need I do more?"

But...

What has gotten into you, Hichigo?

* * *

The princess ungracefully purged over the bathroom sink, with the ceramic structure holding her fragile figure up. She looked at herself through the mirror. Oh how bad she looked... how bad her condition is. Her cheekbones had sunken, and her flaws had only flawed more. Her forehead was protruding due to the lack of food and nutrients given, her eyes sunk deep as if they were her heart.

She would have broke the mirror just by looking at it. She looked so ugly. "I can't eat at all..." she rinsed her foul smelling mouth and wobbly shuffled back onto her bed. "Ayame... Shun'o..." she breathed. Her companions rose to help her without question.

The princess could no longer stay awake, deep inside her heart there lived a hope as little as an microorganism told her The Knight will march in to rescue her. She will sleep to wait... as long as she needed to...

The Sleeping Beauty.

"Kurosaki-...kun." The words that left her mouth before she slept had agreed to never let the princess sleep comfortably again. Her Knight, really never loved her... His love...

Was for Rukia-San, isn't it?

She cried herself to sleep, just as it forever will be...

* * *

"Enough." I called out into the void. Hichigo had knocked Kenpachi to the verge of unconsciousness. I glanced back at the old man, as of now having full control over my body. "Pass." He muttered.

"You're gonna regret it later for beating me, Ichigo. I'll fight you before you even get to leave with Squad Zero!" Kenpachi stood up and wiped the blood of his mouth. "Sorry I hit you." I could only say that to him. Any more criticisms can only lead my unqualified Soul King bum to become a see through escape plan.

I hit his chest in a casual manner. "Still tough eh? We'll miss you, Ichigo." He sighed as Yachiru jumped onto his shoulder. "Why are you leaving us!?" She shouted at me. I gave a smile. "Things. There are things I have to do..."

The old man continued to walk on, so I bid farewell to Kenpachi and Yachiru. I shook my head. Even the big guy misses me, huh?

I walked along the wide paths among Seireitei to the 10th division barracks. My head was spinning from the fight earlier and I don't suppose I'll get any medical attention soon enough. "I am very well pleased with your performance so far, and I hope you can cope with the rest of the trials tomorrow. For now, be tested by Courage. Be tested your path of heroism." The old man didn't walk into the 10th division barracks. I walked in.

"Kurosaki Ichigo. Are you driven by emotion?" Toshiro voiced out in Bankai form. "I suppose not." He shook his head. "You are. Though slightly, but it is strong enough to drive someone mad. I pierced Momo thinking it was Aizen, remember?" He gave a sad snicker at his own actions.

"I became a Vasto Lorde to protect Inoue." I muttered. It was true, I resurrected from the dead to protect my princess because the look on her was unbearable. She was having a panic attack, a nervous breakdown and she was falling apart physically... mentally.

It was instinct that told me to stand up again, because I would never want to see tears on her face anymore. And I did.

"You did. Now tell me, when we labeled Inoue Orihime as a traitor, what did you do?" He looked at me with glare. " I said that she wasn't, I said that she was definitely being forced to. I stood up for her. I was on her side." I sat down.

"What made you think that she wasn't?" The question lingered for a while.

"Because of Courage." He answered for me. "You were willing to go through so much danger for her. You were willing to sacrifice yourself to protect anyone you hold dear." He looked at me.

"Now, will you do it again?" His hand made a choking pose and there materialized Inoue, struggling to break free from his grasp on her neck. "Inoue!" I shouted, running towards Toshiro. The tree standing beside Toshiro hung three nooses, each one there hung Dad, Karin and Yuzu.

"DAMN YOU!" I jumped at Toshiro. He's taking everything from me... He's the traitor. He's the true traitor. The old man must've known. He was the one who had betrayed me.

I grabbed a nearby branch and snapped it before piercing it into Toshiro's hand in hope he would release Inoue. The branch itself broke under pressure and crumbled onto the ground beneath me.

On last resort, I grabbed hold of Toshiro's shihakusho and tried dragging him down with me. "Kurosaki-...kun." I hear her whisper weakly at me, her eyes sunken and turning an ugly shade of black that didn't match her. "Inoue." I looked at her and moved up to press harder at Toshiro's neck. "Release her damnit!" Somehow, my eyesight was blurry and there was water running down my cheeks. "I said RELEASE HER!" Toshiro stood there motionless, unharmed at all.

I pulled him down so he was directly looking at my face. I punched him. He did nothing. I launched him again. He said nothing. I repeated it until my hands trembled from the fight. Inoue was soundly resting upon his hands, sleeping maybe... but presumably dead since her neck was hung by his hand like dead chicken.

"Kurosaki Ichigo." I had finally released Toshiro, sitting limply on the ground. I don't need Hichigo to help me. Not now. "King, you need me to beat his ass up?" Hichigo asked. "No. My fight, alone. Why are you like this anyway? You wanted me dead twice just an hour and a half ago." I didn't need him. I can do this myself.

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Shut up!" I swapped my hand across thin air. I wanted him away from me, my family, Inoue... "What do you feel now?" His icy stare maintained as well as his Bankai.

"Miserable. Unloved. Stupid. I want you dead... I want my life back... You all took it from me." I started speaking like a drunkard. I was drunk in pain due to the sight before my eyes. I hate everything.

"You do know you have no powers left, do you?" My hand was shaking terribly from hitting his unhittable body, there were blisters from the rough parts of his shihakusho. I nodded my head in response, the ever flowing salt water graced me with its presence.

"Yet you struck me. Again... again... So tell me, what made you do that?" He asked, icy cold. "I don't know." I wanted to spit at him and leave, bringing my family and Inoue with me as I proudly walk out the door, but no. He sighed and went off of Bankai, still grasping Inoue's neck. A snicker left his mouth.

"Courage, Kurosaki. Courage! You didn't care what happened to you, you just wanted her to be alive. Yet, she isn't alive at all. She isn't here in the first place." Toshiro let go of her, and she and my family vanished as I looked on with despair.

I turned around. There was a huge watermelon unattended on the ground, presumably left by Ukitake. I went over and took the melon up, ignoring Toshiro. "Hey," I started. "Are you thirsty?"

He nodded. "THEN EAT IT!" I sent the watermelon flying to Toshiro's face, hitting him with a thump as the contents exploded around him. "I HOPE YOU DIE YOU LITTLE BRAT!" I screamed as loud as I can. "I'M ALREADY DEAD YOU DUMBWIT! THAT'S WHY I LIVE IN SOUL SOCIETY!" He replied back as I stormed out of the barracks.

Stupid idiot made me go through all of that... To think he could keep a straight face on for that long! I'll leave a mental note to never be serious with that rascal again. That stupid little pest...

"Not what I was expecting, but still... I can conclude it a pass. You have a special way of dealing with people, Kurosaki Ichigo. Perhaps that is what squad zero wanted." The old man had already walked yards ahead of me, so I had to run to catch up.

I coughed at his reply. I wasn't that good, plus I had used my hollowfied self to win when this was my fight alone. He shook my head to cool myself down. Things were going smoothly, but not as fast as I think it would be. "Can I get some medical treatment?" I had now only realized my wounds were still open and conjuild blood was forming on the side of the cuts and slashes and wounds.

"Later." He replied.

* * *

She got up in the knick of time, ran towards the bathroom and heaved against the sink. Everything was wrong, so so wrong...

Her face was scrunched up in tears, her eyes were red from the brutal assault: the salty water that escaped from her tear ducts.

Her face was layered, caked with dust and tear stains.

Her legs barely moved, the skin was lacking its healthy colour.

Her eyes, they no longer radiate happiness. Her lips, pale yet quivering at the slightest thought of her knight.

She coughed up the absent residue in her stomach, which was undeniably just air. She tried her best to hit the sink with her hands to vent out her frustration, but not even her fingers would want to move. Every inch of her had given up...

If her brother was here, surely everything wouldn't even become like this. He would've comforted her, given that he knew everything. He would've made sure she walked with every step of confidence and happiness.

Her cell phone chimed the notes to a call. She purged into the sink again.. How can she keep this up? Surely, she will need food... Her mind pictured the groceries left by Ishida-kun and Tatsuki... She should take them, shouldn't she? It was for survival, after all.

She will survive to see the day when her knight returns...

He returns...

But he wouldn't, and she knew that all by heart.

* * *

Shuuhei ran towards me and the old man before we even reached the 9th division barracks. "What brings you here, lieutenant Hisagi?" The old man stopped, so I followed. But if I were to walk into him, surely that would make a little bit of my day to see his reaction.

"Captain Commander, you need not worry. I am merely here to escort Kurosaki. It is my responsibility." He bowed and looked at me. I merely nodded back. "Hmm, I guess you can. However, I will still need to grade his trials, so I will have to come along." The old man hit the ground with his cane softly.

Shuuhei grabbed me and decided to drag me along. "You escaped Captain Kuchiki's manor? I will have to congratulate you for that. I never thought escaping from there would even be possible."

"Shut up." I looked away. There wasn't a point in trying to find an explanation I won't give. There was a pang in my heart, though I don't know why. It just hurts, again and again. My lip thinned into a straight line, silently bearing the pain.

We continued to walk on as I feel the tiny arrows struck my chest. Little, but bearing colossal pain. I heaved a sigh, I was tired already. This whole morning was a blur. My phone displayed the time, 2:30 p.m.

"When will we finish?" I asked Shuuhei and the old man. "When you finish this trial." Well, I wasn't asking for such a simpleton answer. I coughed and continued walking.

* * *

It was unusual, for the little music box by the Princess's study table began to chime the notes to a love song she loved years ago. She shedded a drop, then two as she listened along... unexpectedly, her mouth began to move, and sung the lyrics of the song.

**It's alright, I'm fine, always smiling alot.**

**But even if I'm with someone, something is missing.**

**Even though there is no reason for you to come here...**

**The full moon that can be seen through the open window,**

**The cry the crickets cry out their loneliness,**

**Suppressed feelings waver again...**

She cursed the little music box given by her brother. But all in all, she was thankful. This song, has recited her whole life.

If she had five lifetimes to live, then definitely... she will definitely live loving her knight.

And the little music box replayed five times as she wandered off into her dreams again.

* * *

HELLO, THANK YOU FOR READING. I know, its as if you were reading the previous chapter again. I tried my best to make it as Chapter-1-style as I can! If you want the full song, its called ** Unmei no Hito**, and its Japanese *happy face* the song was originally for nel and nnoitra, but I figured in this case, why not ICHIHIME?

And also, you will get confused by Hichigo, Ichigos dark self. So let me explain: Hichigo has two sides of himself, thanks to Mayuri. But no, Hichigo does not have a human personification of his dark self. So he sky rockets back and forth in being helpful and being insane. Got it?

YAY.


	7. Chapter 7

HEY GUYS! Exam had me chained to studies as my phone got confiscated by my parents. I hope you guys didn't have to wait for long! (Who am I kidding you guys practically waited for a whole month.)

so anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter! I reverted the writing to third-person view. Please pm, like, follow and review for any kind encouragements or confusions or probably anything.

You can write : hi your story sucks

Credits: Tite Kubo for the characters.

* * *

Ichigo's task was pretty simple: Lead a small group of shinigamis to fight 25 Hollows, 25 Menos and 10 Adjuchas and 3 Arrancars in half an hour before the Kototsu strikes in. It would be easy if the men Shuuhei picked were not the same height as Rukia, easily sick and practically peeing themselves, that is.

"Kurosaki-kun, how are we supposed to eliminate that many Hollows?" A scrawny kid spoke in a slur after returning from the fifth time to the toilet due to nervousness. Ichigo shook his head gently, looking at Shuuhei. "Where's Zangetsu?" He was then tossed a sword from afar, causing Ichigo to squeal and flail his arms about for a second. "It's a replica, Squad Zero is still forging your new sword." Shuuhei replied while signaling him for the countdown of five minutes. The old man stood far behind, under the shade of a tree.

"Okay, hey, everyone!" Ichigo called attention to his men. " You guys are a bunch of low lives in Squad Nine, aren't you? You are here today however, escorting me as we all finish a task together. You can prove to Shuuhei here that you can do it. For your family, friends, upperclassmen or just yourselves. You will prove today that you are men the moment you walk into this Dangai. You will help me, and I will be grateful. You will be the talk for months on end. Shuuhei will be proud if all of you, so please help me!" he bowed. The silence of the crowd twisted his thoughts. He wasn't a motivational speaker, he just hoped that they would cooperate. His soldiers slowly began speaking, and it was clear the words that came out were motivations and vows.

"3 minutes."

" Everyone, get ready. We have three minutes before we start and half and hour to kill hollows." There was a small formation behind the knight, everyone had their swords ready. The scrawny kid looked up at the orangette. "We'll do it for you, Kurosaki-kun!" Ichigo smiled. He didn't believe that all of them would make it alive.

"3,2,1, go!" Shuuhei shouted.

The entrance gate opened and they charged.

The Dangai was massive and gloomy, the ground beneath them squished under the pressure of their feet. The gloomy darkness settled for a few minutes, letting Ichigo adjust to the dim lighting. 100 metres ahead, the first of the Hollows moved, alerted by the small swarm of Shinigamis. "Go!" Ichigo shouted, his trusty sword Zangetsu pointed towards the Hollows as he reminded himself that he can no longer transform into anything. His men charged forward, but in their faces he could clearly see their hesitation.

The knight held his sword tightly, the mad man inside swearing his head off at how the sword was not the chosen, the real, the powerful one that the knight once held.

He took one deep breath, exhaled, the only words in his mind: Inoue. He jumped and slayed 1 of the hollows, then 2. He paid little attention to his men, his face was painted by blood in this battle. He looked intently at one of the hollow's widened eyes looking back at him. The sword obeyed the Knight's command, and the hollow went down.

Not until he saw the Menos' soulless black eyes had he knew his men and he had eradicated the Hollows in the Dangai. "Is everyone here?!" He shouted behind him. "Yes, Captain!" He had reluctantly accepted the title as his men fumbled on how to address him. "Are all of the hollows dead?" "Yes!" They call out in triumph. He looked at his men beside him, killing the Menos' in small group. Some of the Menos opened their mouths, ready to unleash a Cero. "WATCH OUT!" The Knight called out. However though, he need not worry. His men were doing just fine so far. That was fishy.

Beheading the next 5 Menos under 2 minutes, Ichigo stared at his reflection from the bloody blade. At the sides of the blade, a small piece was hanging limply. It was starting to break off. It was then he heard the mad man's hideous scream. "STOP!" Ichigo cringed. "MAKE IT STOP KING MAKE IT STOP IT'S BREAKING I'M BREAKING I DON'T WANT TO FUCKING DIE IT'S NOT ME IT'S NOT THE SWORD THAT IS ME GET IT OFF YOUR HAND MAKE IT STOP!" Ichigo felt like his brain was wringing brain juices out like a shirt. He shook it off.

It wasn't something he should care about now. They had less than 20 minutes to exterminate hollows before Kototsu arrives. He couldn't imagine what it would be like then.

"Kurosaki-kun, One of our men has sustained a minor injury on his left arm!" the scrawny kid reported beside him as they continued running to the second wave of Menos. "He shall not rest until we settle this! It's too dangerous to leave him here!" He replied, sword ready as he jumped and stab one of the Menos' mask. He didn't know how he could eliminate them one on one, but he was grateful for being able to do that. " Don't let them drag you down! Do this for Shuuhei" on this battleground, the Knight feared everything. His future was at bay, his men the pawns that he needed too badly, his beloved was the fine line between his sanity, time was the puppeteer that moved him about. He feared everything.

His mind began aimlessly chanting and mumbling about as he helped his men behead a dozen more Menos. Ichigo swung Zangetsu like a little boy running about with his new toy plane. He couldn't stop, he didn't want to. He can't afford to live with losing everything, losing everything to live. Finally, the last if the Menos gave a piercing scream, demanding vengeance to its brothers at arm. The Menos let out a scream, its wide jaws form a red dot that expanded profusely. His men struck it down without hesitation.

Then it came the adjuchas.

Ichigo wasn't listening. Hichigo tried to shout for his attention, but it seems as if he was shielded by a barrier. His king wasn't listening to the advice he should've taken. His foolish king... was so gravely foolish.

As Ichigo continued his onslaught, the sword was gradually seen breaking, little chips began to break away from his sword. Hichigo looked at the sword, then checking every inch of his body.

He knew that his every being was crafted and perfected into the form of a sword. He was the manifestation, a personification of the sword Zangetsu, and he will break if the sword shatters.

He didn't wanted to break at all. And yet in front of him, he saw his manifestation slowly cracking, breaking, shattering as the chips drizzle down, dissolving into the unknown material that made up the Dangai.

"STOP IT YOU FUCKING IDIOT!" He was screaming. No, please, don't let it be like this.

Ichigo saw the blade start to crack, and something struck him, telling him to use every last bit of it. The adjuchas were cut down rather slowly, since they learned to talk and confuse some of his soldiers. "Ahhh, the human who killed Numb Chandelier, Fishbone D, Hexapodus, Shrieker, Grand Fisher and a whole fucked up amount of arrancars huh?" An adjucha brought it up as Ichigo went for his 4th kill strike.

"I thought you would've looked better. Never expected a scrawny kid like this could beat up Grand Fisher." Ichigo hesitated to speak, but willed on to kill the adjucha. It left a little print onto Ichigo's mind, making him dream of the past. It felt weird, it felt as if the past never happened at all. He sighed, shaking the negativity out with all his might.

He charged on, one adjucha suddenly shifted. In front of him was Inoue... "Kurosaki-kun..." But he was too late, he can't stop now. His sword swung across her head, beheading his dear heart skipped a beat across a millennium, his feet slowed to a stop. His broken sword lay limply beside his figure. Before him stood Inoue, it was... Inoue.

Why did he kill her?

Why did he do that?

Why?

He shook it off, it is just like the Inoue he met during his trial with Toshiro. Yes, the princess that stood before him was just a doll. She was not a living being, she was not a person he adored, she was not his love. It was never to be his princess. The one with auburn hair, soft grey eyes and her bubbly smile that erased all of his sorrows.

And thinking about her felt like a slap across his face, making him want to run and kill everyone, swordless or the other. "Who's next?" He cried into the Dangai. The time he had by hus side was 7 minutes. 7 minutes to change his fate.

The adjuchas were frightened by the sudden drop in numbers. While Ichigo had the little confrontation with the nameless adjucha shifter, his men had decided to proof their masculinity and beheaded another 6 adjuchas.

"Aren't you proud of us, Kurosaki-kun?" Some of them flash stepped here and there while speaking the words. "Yeah, but not as much as until we kill all of them!" Renewed by instinct and will, Ichigo smiled and continued his mission. The mad man inside the knight was laughing, relieved that the knight was okay, despite the sword's unreliability.

" Ichigo, I wish we could talk more my pathetic king..." The mad man returned to his position, lying face up as the void rolled off continuously into infinite oblivion. He was in pain still...

The pain of being sane was just too much to bear.

* * *

"Great... great. Go to sleep, Orihime." Yoruichi unleashed a bottle full of faint-inducing gas and held the bottle under the door, letting the gas into Inoue's little apartment. Before long, she heard a thud. Quickly signaling Ururu, Yoruichi tossed two grocery bags unto her hands as Ururu climbed to the other side of Inoue's apartment, her bedroom.

At least Kisuke came up with something for Orihime instead of buzzing off into uncovering his plan for Ichigo. Ururu slid the window open and climbed into her dim apartment. She raced, carefully so as to not make noise and went into the kitchen. Yoruichi couldn't believe how Orihime could've lived like this, but then again... Orihime was as good as dead after Ichugo's passing.

Ururu helped unpack the cupboards and restocked the pantry. The contents spilled through the fridge, forcing Ururu to lean hard against it for it to close. This will last for a week or two,she thought. Looking content, she squashed the two now empty bags and made for a run past the sleeping Orihime in the living room. As she raced into Orihime's bedroom, she saw a notepad and a scattered table full of stationery. Being the kind little girl she is, she took a pencil and wrote a little message.

We'll be waiting.

She smiled at her note and looked behind her at the peaceful princess that was asleep. She can now tell Tatsuki that she need not worry. Everyone will be relieved, even for a short while. She climbed over the window, and with her rope, she climbed back to Yoruichi, who was a bit teary-eyed.

"Let's all just hope she gets through this." She got up and screwed the cap shut. "That'll give her a warning that she can't say no to things when we're here for her." She brushed her hands on her sweatpants and walked off with Ururu behind. "Ururu, did you put the mood stabilizer into the food?" Yoruichi slowed her tracks to match with the little girl. "I did." Ururu replied, handing out an empty bottle.

* * *

To be honest, I never wanted Yoruichi in this at all but aye, she seemed like a pretty decent being. As for Ichigo, he needs all the luck he gets *insert sly expression here* Wouldn't it be nice if Byakuya had a bath with Ichigo? OH YAYYYYY NEW CONTENT

Hope you guys enjoy this although its frighteningly short. Make sure to press follow, like and review for more! *heart shape* *heart shape*


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello! This chapter might be a tad lil bitty confusing so... Okay this chapter is really confusing. Read with care.**

* * *

She woke up in a daze, her eyesight a blurry whirlwind of colors. How long had it been since she involuntarily inhaled the sweet scent of oranges? She didn't remember buying any oranges, planting them, moreover juicing them. It must've been the rotting ones in front of her doorstep. But the oranges smelled too sweet to be rotten, mimicking the scent of her Beloved Knight. She tried to inhale his scent once more, neglecting the consequences ahead of her, but there was none left to indulge. It must be the oranges that Tatsuki bought but was left untouched. It had to be. She stumbled to her feet, her hands gently pressing her eyelids to eliminate the confusing colors. It was 2 in the afternoon, about thirty minutes after she fainted.

Her stomach grumbled with all its might, signaling the need of food in the Princess's weak body. She obeyed for once, unable to bear with the hunger. But whatever was left in the fridge can last no more than another pitiful tea, or so had she thought.

She opened the fridge with two hands, now that her strength had depleted dangerously. Inside her fridge, no… Inside her kitchen, it felt as if it was revived. It felt like her kitchen, her pantry was just as good as new now that it had been miraculously filled with food. Canned goods, fruits, meat, vegetables… She could cook up a royal feast with the heaping amount of food she had. She pinched herself.

Of course, such miracles will not happen, the Princess convinced herself. She believed that she was hallucinating, all thanks to the orange scented fumes. The carrots remained as it were left before, sitting neatly in a corner inside the pantry. The curry packets laid against one another in the cupboard.

She hurried to check for her stash of junk foods, the comfort foods that she could eat for months on end if they were miraculously restored like the others. She wanted to have an armful of packet crisps for herself right now. She swung it open, one lonely packet dropped onto the kitchen counter. "I guess even gods don't promote junk food." She sighed to herself. She got herself canned soup for lunch, a sad spoonful every minute so her stomach wouldn't make her purge over.

Right after she finished with the dishes, she started crying. Had she forgotten about Her Knight? She vowed to not eat, and now that she ate, she was contented. She didn't want to purge again, to be left with the awful aftertaste that made her purge some more. She was a little happy to have finally stomached something, but her happiness should have never been felt at all. Not when her Knight died, not when she was going to face the cruel world alone for the rest of her life. She let herself curl up in remorse and grief, pulled down by the tears that weigh her into an endless pit.

She couldn't wait to talk to the moon tonight, that might have been the only thing that is keeping her at bay now. Orihime wiped her tears away, eager for the darkness of the night to settle on the land she cursed of now. She tried to prepare the things she would say to the Knight in the moon. The Princess began chanting as she wobbled back to her room, the tears in her eyes appearing and disappearing as she thought of her nighttime speech.

She continued walking while hugging herself. She entered her dimly lit bedroom and headed for her desk. Perhaps she could do something there if she willed herself to. Her eyes began watering and tears began to fall like a microburst storm. Her desk itself reminded her of her school days she voluntarily skipped the past week, and of course, the days she spent with her Knight. She was always the one who would awkwardly stand there as Ichigo engaged in a group conversation, but Ichigo always managed to get her into small talk. He seemed like the only one besides Tatsuki that could make her feel like talking about the world to. He always made her interested in even the smallest conversations, even if she didn't speak.

After the Hueco Mundo accident, Ichigo had taken measures to moderately check if she was okay. He was also the one who always made sure Tatsuki left the school with her. He would send messages to her weekly to see if she needed help with anything. He always remained her savior after that. He was always her Knight.

Her tears involuntarily wetted the scattered piles of paper on her desk. She remembered the first day it happened.

She ran back home, hid herself in her room, threw a bunch of blank papers on her desks, attempting to write what her mind could only think of. She was so disturb she couldn't hold a pen, her writings slanted off in the most un-Orihime writing fashion. Her words turned to scribbles, little blue lines that wriggled up and down, sometimes about in rows upon rows of paper. She threw each and every one of the scribbled papers on the floor, she was stepping on them days later. Orihime did not pick the papers up. Amongst her littered desk, she saw a little scrap of paper with words clearly not written by her.

We'll be waiting.

She crumpled the paper on sight and flung it to the door. The paper hit with a faint sound before falling to the parquet floor. She let out a voiceless scream, her body now on the floor, the princess empty of energy. Her face was glistening with white streams of tears. She made herself clear that she wanted nothing to do with the outside world. The rotting bags of grocery outside her door made it clear. She herself made it clear.

Why had they arrived still?

She clawed at her arms, unable to breathe from the panic. Everything about Ichigo was a trigger. They people he talked to, the things he did, the dreaded Soul Society he was associated with. Memories clouded in her right mind, her eyes whirring by the tears. She let out a deep breath. Urahara-san should have just left her alone.

" Kurosaki-kun, it hurts…" She lay on the floor littered with papers, her chest unsteadily rising up and down in fast motions, her eyes closed, letting the tears wet her face, her hands covering her face. She let the negativity wash over her.

He's gone.

He had forgotten about her.

He never liked her to begin with.

He left her suffering.

She was stupid, for sure.

* * *

Frankly, Ichigo was never that brave. He glanced upon the 3 Arrancars, a shiver ran down his neck. He estimated the time left… 5 minutes before the Kototsu charges through the Dangai.

His men stood in place frightened looking at Ichigo cemented in place, afraid. Ichigo took a deep breath and looked back at the pile of frozen statues behind him and gave a warming smile. " Don't turn back."

The Knight charged alone towards the beasts. "Look at that, Feae! That took some balls to charge at us." A man, not much older than him with handsome features and choppy red shoulder length hair laughed. His eyes and sclera were entirely black, there was a yellow stripe running from the middle of his head to the longest strand of hair behind his back. The other, a girl with glistening hair of prussian blue twice as long as her short height snickered. She had yellow eyes yet no pupils. The last man, the tallest among the trio remained silent as he glared at Ichigo from afar. Platinum blond hair swept to the side, and eyes that Ichigo swore were the reflection of unknown galaxies. They stood there awaiting his arrival.

" You are?" The blonde eyed the Ichigo from afar and voiced out. Ichigo smiled, his name was a scary one to most hollows. "Kurosaki Ichigo, and I'm coming to end you!" He caught his pace and raised his sword towards the blonde only to be blocked. Ichigo's face turned pale.

"I am Tyto Aurant, the owl of wisdom, you cannot just end me." The blonde had no expression when talking. "4 minutes. I will end your misery in 4 minutes" The Knight himself knew about his current state, how confused and scattered his mind was the moment he woke up in Soul Society, officially had to try regardless how messed up his mind was. Had Captain Kurotsuchi poisoned him? Ichigo swung the chipping Zangetsu at Tyto again just to see Zangetsu get hurled away into a distance. Why is he so vulnerable now? If he was scared, he couldn't even do so much as kill a Menos.

Then he heard it, finally.

"King… King" There was a hiccup, several chokes on breath. "King, hear me out…" The Knight stared blankly towards the hoards of men far behind him, standing scared shitless. Ichigo's eyes lost its shine instantly, staring at the soldiers as his skin turned ghostly pale. "It's impossible. It's impossible. It hurts. I'm breaking…" He hears the mad man's faint whisper. "Throw the damn piece of shit away. It's killing me from the inside out. I feel it. It hurts." The Knight heard sharp breaths from the mad man. He felt his inner evil clawing for light in the abyss. "Help me." The Knight mouthed out.

"Hichigo, save me."

"Heh…" The mad man laughed a little. "I'll try. It won't be for long, you ass of a king."

* * *

"We have to do something. Captain can't go against those Arrancars even if he was the strongest shinigami there ever was. Those… 'things' could kill him…" One whispered harshly. "Then what do you say we should do? Charge in and try to become heroes when we can't even do anything?" The second voice was a mere shaking audio.

"There's only 5 minutes left anyway. Maybe we should turn back and ask for help…"

"We've made it this far. No one really sustained injuries too…"

"Maybe we should fight them!"

"We can't just charge in, that's the problem!"

"Anyone good at strategies here?" There was eerie silence.

"That's it. If no one wants to do anything then we'll charge in!" There was several heavy footsteps ahead and swords unsheathing.

"NO! LOOK!" Someone grabbed hold of the braver soldiers forearm.

"Captain… He's…" Zangetsu skidded into a stop in front of them. All eyes paid attention towards the Knight. The soldiers stared at him. He stared at the soldiers. There was a massive blunt on the side of his head.

"He… He…" One of the soldiers broke down.

No one said anything, not even after hearing the red haired man and the glossy haired woman laugh.

"Listen up, lil shits! It's either you're gonna pay some respect and bring your ass here or keep standin there like the statue pieces you're gonna end up when I smash ya!" He bellowed, crackling with laughter as Feae snickered and Tyto looked on.

"Feng! Why don't you just look at them? Look at their faces! I can't wait to bite them and suck them bone dry!" The girl, Feae snickered loudly. "Silence." Tyto shushed them.

"We should… just… run." One of the soldiers started to step back. "Yeah, good idea." Another one followed.

The scrawny kid that looked up at the Knight finally spoke. "We play offense." The bigger sized soldiers hesitated to laugh but each received a slice on their cheek before their brains could even register the blow. "Hey, the Kototsu will arrive. We need to save the world's last hope. Its either we die the heroes or the victim, if he ends up not becoming Soul King." The scrawny little boy swung his bloody blade. "I would not want to see the world collapse before my eyes. Do this for the rest of the universe."

The others shuddered under their breath. They were belittled by the youngest in the group. "Okay, we'll do it! 15 people divided by 3 groups, those who can use shikai, please use them. We need to do everything we can!" The elder men shouted the members into groups.

They charged towards the beasts.

* * *

"Oh no… How could an innocent shopkeeper like me make such a mistake?" Urahara stared at the hologram of Inoue Orihime's room. Orihime's mood did not meet his expectations. He didn't expect the medicine to be as good as useless. "What's going on?" Yoruichi called out, leaning on the side of the door to his big science lab underground. "It seems like I miscalculated the dosage Orihime-san should take. That's not right, she should be at that level of depression." Urahara trailed off. "You gave her medicine for Major Depression?" Yoruichi cocked her head to the side. "Unfortunately so, Yoruichi. She is multiple disorders combined. It's hard enough to find medicines for her, moreover making them." He sighed. "Why must a shopkeeper like me be a doctor at the most unreasonable times?" He complained loudly into the equipment filled room. Yoruichi folded her arms against the side of the door. " You told me she plays one of the biggest pieces in this game of chess. Ichigo will need her help as much as they need yours, Kisuke." Yoruichi blurted out. "I'm going to make tea for you, don't strain yourself, Kisuke. I know that you've been staying awake for far too long." Urahara looked on as the slender silhouette disappeared into the hallways of the basement.

"Orihime-san's role… Ah! My shopkeeper mistake! Yoruichi!" Urahara called out again. " I need you to test something for her!" He waited for her familiar shout of a reply before returning back to work.

* * *

The Princess sat slumped on the wooden chair in front of her desk. She managed to stop her tears, but the anger inside her wouldn't extinguish. She didn't need anybody's help. She was fine on her own. The Princess would rather be locked up in the tallest tower than wander among the woods filled with villagers. She was sure Yoruichi-san came, perhaps with Tatsuki? Tatsuki was agile, she could sneak around her apartment with no problem. Maybe it was all done by Yoruichi-san…

The Princess turned towards her bed and fell onto it. She muffled her complaints, getting touchy every now and then at the reminders of her Knight's short-lived life. She could hear the distant voices of Ayame and Shun' o. They were calling out for her. She summoned the all too well healing shield. They formed a hemisphere bubble surrounding her body and the buzzing sound relieved her. She felt the soft warmth inside the bubble, but she knew nothing physical or mental was healing.

"Orihime… You should really stop doing this. Look at how strained you are… It's best to look positive, okay?" Shun'o tried comforting her. The Princess started to cry softly. Not only did her friends and the rest of the world not understand her, but even her subordinates had little to no knowledge of the Princess's current state.

"Orihime, please try to understand that we're trying everything to help you. It's not best for your health to stay like this." Ayame spoke softly. The Princess shouted for them to stop and do what they were meant to do. Orihime watched as her eyesight began to dim, focusing and then unfocusing on the objects in her room. She was not crying. "Orihime…" Shun' o and Ayame suddenly spoke.

"I know." The Princess replied.

"My blood pressure is dropping."

* * *

Feng flung the Shinigamis like fleas off a dog. Tyto hit the other group of men after analysing all of their weak spots in a blink of an eye. Feae tortured them with her venomous bites that stung and killed their nerves.

All the while as Ichigo looked on.

But in a way, it was comforting looking at their selflessness. At another angle, Ichigo had indirectly hurt and killed his men. A small massacre, one would say.

"Hichigo, save me… Please... do something." Ichigo looked on, the battle of tears in his eyes had ended in defeat. He had never seen people being tortured so mercilessly. "King." Hichigo spoke.

"Allow me." He cackled with laughter as he shouted into the Knight's mind. Ichigo felt a pain shot up his entire body, making him feel hot and ecstatic. Black washed over his eyes as he closed them. When he opened them, he saw the surrounding with familiar yellow eyes. He cocked his head unnaturally to the side, almost breaking his neck. He tasted the metallic saliva in his own throat. The blow at his right temple was long gone. He let out a relieved sigh as the side of his lips curl into a smirk. His hair reached his elbows.

"Leave my men alone." The chipped Zangetsu rested in front of him. He picked it up. It felt like the time he turned into a Vasto Lorde.

Conquest, Invincible, Powerful, Ecstatic.

He felt the blood inside him boil orchestrally. He began to hear heartbeats surrounding him.

He stepped forward.

"Eh, lil shit? Looks like you gained some balls. Wanna try me?" Feng shouted with pleasure. Feae snickered. Tyto continued abusing the other men.

The Knight curled his lips as he continued to walk. "I did say 'Release them', had I not?" His Hollow mask covered half of his face. "Oh, don't you look appetizing? What's your name?" Feae looked amused.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, now let's play a game…" He counted down the time left. 1 minute. His hands and feet were becoming claw-like, just as they were when he first became Vasto Lorde.

"Game's on, ya lil punk!" Feng laughed, running to the Knight. Feng's hand, now embedded with smoke tattoos steamed as vapour curled around his fingers. "I don't just charge a pathetic cero, shit stain." Feng smiled, a big ball of blue, white and red flames danced on his palm. "Cero YeHuo, Flash!" The cero was sent with a long flaming train trailing as it reached Ichigo's eyes. The Knight ducked below it, a hand catching the ball of pure flame before throwing it back to Feng...

Feae decided to use Feng as a distraction as she slithered fast towards Ichigo, her beige fangs protruding, dripping venom from the tiny slits. Ichigo, with chipping Zangetsu, sliced her mouth open. The fangs no longer visible as they melted in steaming sulphur-smelling slime.

"Did you think it was over like that?!" Feae bellowed, her fingers tracing to where her fangs once were. "They grow back, sweetie." She closed her mouth and opened again, the new set of fangs protruding from her gums...

Feng looked at Ichigo, his eyes now a bright red instead of black. "Eat this!" He pressed his hands together and sliced horizontally through the air. A scythe with double blades on each end appeared. He threw it across like a boomerang as Ichigo, busy with Feae, earned a deep cut at his side...

Ichigo slashed Feae repeatedly without mercy. He could not control himself any longer. Once the mask covers his whole face, he will go insane. Feng caught up from the back, wielding the double ended scythe. "Two against one is really belittling my power." Ichigo turned to his back, his palm spread out wide. The red ball grew with incredible speed before getting shot into Feng's face. The cero blinded the whole Dangai...

Tyto was analysing the last of the unconscious men. He wondered why humans were so vulnerable. He wondered why he was so merciful. Perhaps he knew that killing or not killing them made no difference. But how is there no difference? At which angle can one find the answer? He let go the head of a skinny young male as the man struggled to steady his breathing. The humans that sprawled everywhere in the Dangai were not of his interest anymore. This Kurosaki Ichigo, who is now a 95% hollow interested him. How can he shapeshift? And becoming the cross between a Vasto Lorde and a Shinigami, it was impossible. Tyto looked at Ichigo's hands that were spread wide. He saw the red dot get increasingly bigger at rapid speeds. He saw Feae and Feng toying with Ichigo. He saw the red dot burst with blinding light. It blinded Feae and Feng from his view.

It was about to reach him.

"Bring Death, Lechuza de Campanario Dorada!"

* * *

**So, did your brain survive that?**

**The red haired man is called Feng Huang, meaning Phoenix in Chinese.**

**The glossy haired girl is called Feae, short for Azemiops Feae, a snake.**

**The blondie is called Tyto Aurant, short for Tyto Aurantia, the scientific name for the Golden Masked Owl.**

**The resurrecion in the end belongs to Tyto. Why did he release it? Wait till the next chapter muahahahah.**

**I hope you guys like it. Please favourite, follow and review for any questions or concerns and comments *insert happy face here***


	9. Chapter 9

**Ah yes. This will be as confusing as the previous chapter. I hope you don't mind it though. What do you think will happen next chapter?**

**Don't forget to favourite, follow and review!**

**I also collaborated with a girl named Zalaine here. You can check out our Collab story "Another Life'"**

**I guess that's all!**

* * *

Chapter 6

When the light inside the Dangai finally faded, Tyto opened his eyes again. There were wings on his back, feathers protruding from his wrists and elbows. His hair was grown a little messier and a bit longer. His eyes sparkled like the stars in a night sky, because true to word, his eyes were the night. He was cladded in a toga and a fur cloak on his shoulders. His feet were bare, and the nails had shifted into claws. He let his eyes settle to the surroundings.

There were Feae and Feng, kneeling before the Mad Knight.

"What have you done to them?!" Tyto shouted, rather not composed. There was eerie silence in the dense air. "Me?" The Knight cocked his head a 270° to look at Tyto.

"Don't you fucking dare lay your asswipe of a finger on Tyto!" Feng grabbed Ichigo's arm and threw him to a side. Tyto could see that Feng had sustained a deep enough cut at his side, he could see his muscles contracting and expanding.

"Me?" Ichigo's mask had covered all but one eye. His skin had already started to turn snowy white. Feae was still kneeling. "I didn't expect that you would be the first to resurrect. That was very fucking pathetic of you, blocking me with your oversized chicken feathers." The mad man spoke instead of the Knight. "Eat this!" Feng shouted.

Feng bit his tongue and smiled.

Ichigo looked in disgust.

"Burn and Revive, Feng Huang!" Feng was washed over by flames. Ichigo had his sword ready. Tyto looked on.

Tyto was confused. Normally, he could find weak spots in everything his eyes lay upon. He could destroy a structure from its weakest point, defeat an enemy by analysing each of the men's weak spot. But as he looked on at the Mad Knight, he could find nothing. Ichigo did not have a single muscle or a joint that was overworking itself. Tyto could snap an overworking joint in seconds and slice through overworking muscles as if they were jelly.

This was the first time in his entire life that he didn't know how to defeat his enemy.

The flames that covered Feng's body slowly subsided. In amidst of the flames, Feng pointed at Ichigo. "Surprise, lil shit." A cero blasted out from his finger. Ichigo's left arm sustained a little burn wound.

"Hope you heard the legend, lil shit. This thang ain't gonna go down that easily!" Feng charged out from the smoke and pounced on Ichigo. His eyes were bloody red, he had feathery hair extensions, he was wearing a tattered cloth and his wings were the color of the sunset. There was the Chinese symbol of the Phoenix inscribed into his right cheek. His teeth were filed to a point, his legs were now that of a bird.

Tyto ran for Feae, who was still kneeling. He knew she was alive, but he didn't know why she wasn't conscious at a time like this. "Feae!" Tyto shouted her name as he dragged her away from Ichigo. Feng was having fun messing with the Mad Knight from afar, for the Dangai was currently smoking in flames and cero blasts.

"Feae! What's wrong?" Tyto shook her mercilessly. She wasn't that weak. She was a snake whose venom was so poisonous skin would decay if it was bitten. "Tyto, sweetheart…" She spoke in her usual flirty manner, but her voice was soft and quiet. "You're always the smart one. But you've got it wrong, my dear." Her lips curled into a wicked smile. "I want Feng to die. You know the relationship between us." Her smile grew wider.

Tyto sighed at her words. Feae took the predator-prey relationship between animals too seriously. Feae stated that she hated Owls when she first met him. That was why they didn't really communicate.

"YOU TWO PATHETIC LOVERS AREN'T GONNA HELP ME AREN'T YA?" Feng shouted from afar, his hands withstanding Ichigo's almost broken blade. There was only a small space on Ichigo's forehead that the mask didn't cover. The Knight will go insane anytime soon.

* * *

"So… how did it fit?" Urahara hid behind his paper fan as he looked at confused Yoruichi. They were in his underground training chamber. "What does this do, exactly?" Yoruichi's arm was cuffed with a beautiful silver hand cuff. There were tiffany blue gemstones embedded to look like Orihime's pins. "I thought I'd give her a boost in her attacking department since she only has Tsubaki to play the offensive." Urahara waved the fan at Yoruichi. "But it works on everything. Try it on yourself, Yoruichi."

Yoruichi composed herself. "Hado 31: Shakkaho!" She shouted, her finger pointed at the rocks. The red ball dancing around her fingertips grew to twice its normal size and exploded at the rocks with impressive might. "Not much, but I guess it works fine." Yoruichi flexed her wrists. "Well, certainly. The effects work better on Orihime-san herself." Urahara closed his fan and looked at Yoruichi. "Now turn into a cat and use it, Yoruichi-san~" Urahara laughed at Yoruichi's face. "Who do you think I am, Kisuke? Your pet?!" Yoruichi clobbered him on the head.

Kisuke quickly recovered from the unfated accident. "Well, I can conclude that it works really well!" He took his hat out and rubbed the sore bump on his head. "Tsk." Yoruichi glared at him while taking off the gadget. "Ururu! Come and help Kisuke!" She gave the gadget to Kisuke and walked off.

The Princess stared at the ceiling. Her eyes blurred and unblurred again. Her heart started to beat irregularly. She wanted to talk to someone… But that someone wasn't there. Orihime sat up. Her tears blinding her again. "Kurosaki-kun…" The deep cut in her heart had not healed at all.

She continued staring at the ceiling, as if she was at the cinema, watching a movie. Her life played itself like the cinematic tape stuck on replay. She saw it again, this time clearly. When her brother was sent to the Kurosaki Clinic, the orange haired boy that noticed her noticing him.

Her Knight.

His Princess.

That were both never meant to be.

Another clip played. This time triggering her like she was taking a spear to the chest. The first day she met him. Her Knight aged beautifully, and she bumped into him unknowingly when she was shopping one day. Being the dummy she is, she waved away his offer of wanting to escort her home.

He was beautiful.

Orihime regretted ever suspecting herself for her crush on Ichigo. The Princess was always a clumsy maniac that only made wrong decisions. In her abundant lifetime of wandering about all her wrongdoings, she concluded that she only made one decision right. And that was her Knight.

Her beautiful, dead Knight.

* * *

Tyto flew to help the winged Creature. The mad knight looked on, the mask already fully covered. Tyto and Feng tried their best to blast Ichigo down with ceros, but Ichigo didn't even do so much as flinch. The clock was ticking.

The Kototsu arrives.

The Dangai shook like a massive earthquake as the Kototsu arrived from the far end. Ichigo eyed at the Kototsu for a second. He let out a shaky, relieved breath. "Bankai" Ichigo's mask glowed, horns protruding from his head. The transformation is complete.

The unusual Vasto Lorde form greeted Feng with a slash from the front. Zangetsu, his trusty blade was halved. Tyto looked on, shocked beyond recognition. Tyto was stunned.

How could a Vasto Lorde achieve bankai?

How was it possible?

"Peck, Spear of My Beak!" Tyto, enraged, called upon a spear a length the same of Tyto's body. The top part of the spear was glistening gold, and he charged in through the air, spinning before stabbing the creature before him.

"RanQi!" Feng followed as he blasted fire from his hands. Three tigers made of liquid flame rushed towards Ichigo, aiming for his throat.

Ichigo let out a terrifying roar, followed by a cero. Feng attacked from the front, Tyto at the back. Ichigo did not fear. The mad Knight made a sound, vaguely humanlike. "Getsuga…" Tyto understood the words. "Tensho!" Zangetsu fixed itself, now a fully functional blade. It launched a crescent of blackish red towards Tyto.

"Feng!" Tyto called for help. "Hu!" Feng washed the attack away with flames. Ichigo roared again. The Kototsu was not very far at all. "Pierce!" Tyto pierced the Kototsu. "The fuck are you doing?!" Feng called out. "Fuck. HuoJian!" Feng's right hand was a sword made of flames. Ichigo slashed Feng repeatedly as Feng played defense. Feae looked on, silently laughing.

Tyto worked even harder, trying to destroy the Kototsu. This will buy him time so he can win the battle. His spear pierced deep into the thing's light. He wanted it gone.

He wanted Ichigo.

Ichigo roared after earning a small cut on his chest. Feng laughed a little, but he feared so much inside. This thing before him wasn't dying.

"Die! Die! Die!" Tyto couldn't stop the Kototsu. It kept charging, towards Feng, towards Feae, towards that creature. He took his spear and stabbed it in all kinds of places. It wouldn't work.

Ichigo's men looked at the Kototsu, hopeless.

Ichigo looked at the Kototsu, exhaling.

Feng looked at Ichigo as he swallowed the blood in his mouth.

"Getsuga…"

"Tensho."

The Dangai lost light.

* * *

RanQi= burn

Hu = protect

HuoJian = rocket/sword of flame

**HIO**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hallo hallo! Life's been april-fooling me before it was even April but I'm back! This chapter was a lot of fun to write, mostly because- *spoiler remains unmentioned* If you have any questions or comments please review and i'll see you guys next time xD**

* * *

The Princess woke up, suddenly full of energy. She breathed once, the twice. And she slumped back into her bed. She missed having dreams… There was once a dream where she met her brother, when he lived for another day. There was another where she lived in a little wonderland, with cute rabbits and her beautiful Knight. She sighed… Even if it was a nightmare, she wouldn't mind dreaming about it. She wanted just a dream to forget about reality.

She grabbed a biscuit and nibbled on it. The Princess wasn't feeling any better, if anyone asked. She couldn't taste anything. A tear fell, and she wondered why she was still crying. It's been so very long, and she knew very well that tears can't help her.

So why was she crying? For her Knight that won't return? For her pathetic life that wouldn't get any better? What was she crying for? Her tears dampened her biscuit, but she didn't mind.

A cup of water went down her throat. She sat back on her bed.

She wanted to talk to someone, anyone at all. But that anyone can only be someone, and that someone is no one after all. She wiped her tear crusted eyes.

And she slept again.

* * *

"King...?" The Mad Man smiled. In front of the pale skinned man was a twin. The twin's limbs were tied by black ropes. He was concentrating on the screen in front of him. "King." Shirosaki said sternly. "Busy..." Ichigo's right arm moved with great speed, and a sword reached Feng's arm. Ichigo looked like a puppeteer, moving his beastly self so he could defeat his enemies.

"KING FOR CHRIST'S SAKE FUCK LOOK AT ME" Shirosaki screamed. Ichigo looked behind him. "Hold my hand." Shirosaki walked towards the Knight. Ichigo slapped his hand away. "I don't have time for you." The Knight looked at the Mad Man. Shirosaki looked, stunned. "Are you...mad?" The Mad Man frowned and gritted his teeth.

Shirosaki stretched his arms out and immediately, black ropes curled and locked his arms and legs. He moved his left arm, and the creature moved its left arm. "Shiro, what are you doing?!" Ichigo shouted. "Double control, man. Makes it a whole lot better!" The Mad Man laughed.

"Just… Follow my lead." Ichigo strikes right, and Shirosaki followed. "Getsuga…" Ichigo raised his hand. "Tensho!"

* * *

Shirosaki P.O.V.

I can't tell the King. Bitch is already busy with those things in front of him. I can't tell him I feel uneasy inside. I can't tell him I feel sick. Can't tell him, can't tell him.

Shit. I would've bugged him to no end.

All fucking thanks to whatever that painted masked bitch captain injected into me. I'm all considerate and sane now, like I'm becoming something else.. Another person I hate…

Even breathing hurt…. Imagine that. I'm burning from the inside out. I can feel the blood moving like static rushing through my veins. My head is pounding like a jackhammer. Eyesight is so blurry…

But I can't tell the King. He's got enough to worry about. I'll just help him, like the shadow I always am. He likes me like that, when I'm no longer me. Of course he likes me when I'm sane. Bitch doesn't really understand me anyway.

It's not like I wanted him to care… Not when he mistook that old man as Zangetsu and indirectly said I was just an accident that got mixed inside his powers. I can't say anything about it, that skull's hard to crack.

And yet I felt like I should tell him about me. Yeah, I think I should… Before I become fully sane. Yeah, I'll tell him. Just later.

Later.

* * *

The Kototsu did not stop. Tyto repeatedly stabbed its eye and its body but to no avail. "Why won't you die? Why won't you die?!" Tyto could see no weak points of the Kototsu's body. He was panicking, his hands were matted with bloody sweat. He breathed once, then twice. For this once in his lifetime, he was dumbstruck.

Across from him, the monster roared and laughed and crackled. Feng tried his best, and it was inevitable that his energy had deteriorated greatly. "What's…. The matter?" Ichigo smirked. "Tired?" The sword slashed Feng's face. Feng drew in tiring breaths, and exhaled equally so.

Tyto jumped down the charging creature and blasted cero at it.

But it felt as if he watched it in a third person view…

The creature pushing against him…

His cero blasting in an attempt to stop the creature…

The sounds of sword clashing in the background…

It felt as if he was watching a movie…

And he kept blasting… until...

"TYTO! STOP THAT SHIT!" Feng shouted, wide eyed.

But Tyto didn't feel it coming.

As the creature continued charging at them, there came a loud sound of crushing bones. Feng turned to look at it, but there was no longer anything for him to see. He couldn't feel his knees. He turned towards Ichigo.

"YOU… YOU MERCILESS SHIT!" Feng couldn't find anyone to blame. He blamed himself, but he didn't want to show it. He wanted it to be the fault of another, so he could feel better about himself. You can call him cruel and selfish, but it spared him the remorse.

Feng felt himself burn from within, the liquid fire melting his skin off. He didn't know what to feel, or what feeling is even like anymore. All the supposedly suppressible heat escaped from his core, crying and threatening the body to burst and disintegrate into ashes.

Feng pierced Ichigo again and again. "YOU-!" Feng screamed. He hated the feeling of burning tears sizzling off his face. He hated the salt that was left behind after the water evaporates. He hated how hot his cheeks burn when his eyes show weakness. His pathetic cries have always damaged his body more than his mind, but not today it wasn't. He let the pain settle along with the burning sensation of his mind. He let it stay warm and comfortable, wrapped up in love and care and affection.

What a joke. He laughed at himself.

He was the funny one out of the trio. The hotheaded funny little brother that everyone couldn't help but have a soft spot for. He could make a joke out of everything, even himself. But this was not a joke. This can never ever be a joke. This joke hurt as much as seeing Tyto gone.

But this joke was seeing Tyto gone.

He hated it. He hated everything about it. He hated the tears that made him see the world in nothing but a blur. Seeing Tyto's face blur out was a silent choke to the death without an aid. He hated his cowardice.

Cowardice is a weakness he has denied himself since birth.

"FUCKING PIECE OF-" Feng drove a sharp piece of solid metal straight into Ichigo's chest, then he ran. He didn't bother to check if Ichigo was dead. Of course he wasn't; he didn't care. The Kototsu was only a few yards away.

He headed for the beast. No, to be frank…

He headed for him; he wanted to feel the warmth in his hands, the heat of his fingertips, the protection from his presence. He ran faster. He couldn't think of anything right now. "Tyto!" Was he dead? "SPEAK YOU FUCKING OWL! ANSWER ME!" He chased the only warmth that supported him. He couldn't feel it anymore.

He chased as time slowed down, he chased and stumbled and fell but the pain didn't come, after all, all the pain that exists within him is encasing his heart. His eyes were bloodshot, he looked tired.

He saw his memories as if he was walking through a gallery. He picked up his pace, but it still seemed as if he was taking a stroll down his memory lane. He pried at his burning eyeballs, he didn't want to look at it.

He saw test tubes. He saw a shriveled Feng Huang staring back at him, unripe and submerged in electric green liquid. He wasn't a true arrancar he lead himself to believe...

He was a toy. He saw his creator, a mask of blue and black and white. He saw a coat labeled '12'. Feng turned back, if he could retrace his steps, maybe he could get out of his memories. No, he ran. He ran until his visions became white. He ran as fast as his scorched feet would let him. He ran till his tears melted his face.

He now knew about Veae. He laughed at his own cowardice. She was long brain dead when the monster struck them, of course she couldn't live through that. The only thing she could do was secrete poison. She can't protect herself. He laughed even more. Her voice, no wonder she sounded so quiet. Someone was mimicking her; someone was trying to be her.

He forced himself to laugh. It sounded so bitter and hollow, but it wasn't half as bad as he felt right now.

They were specimens... Failure of experiments.

He saw two orbs, when flying, the other slithering along the vacant floor. The flying orb was white, like Tyto's hair. The other was violet, like Veae. Feng started to slow down, turning back to see if Ichigo was there.

There was no one, so he started walking towards the two.

He smiled.

They were cruel, so very cruel to play him. His body molded into a single red orb...

Then it bursted into flames.

* * *

**Well, well! This chapter is short, i have to admit, and not much about Ichigo too. which got me thinking... Hime had already went through quite a LONGG day and it wasn't even done yet. I couldn't imagine how someone could do that, but she is a special kind of nuts and i like it. Anyways, how did you enjoy the story? Should the shinigamis be erased by the Kotosu or should they warp back with Ichigo? And how do you feel knowing that Shirosaki/Hichigo/Ogichi/Dark Ichigo is turning sane? Please review/follow/favourite for more xD**


	11. Chapter 11

**oh god hello guys ;;_;; im sorry for ditching you guys for a good 6 months but I have very important exams coming and now that it's over, I can finally post stories! This is major cause I felt like a part of my life was taken away! I hope you guys forgive me for this and I've set up a rule for myself too! **

**1\. I will now post every two weeks on Friday, possibly at 20:00 hours JST**

**2\. If there is a delay, I will private message all fans who reviewed, favourites and followed this story. So if you want to be notified on why I am posting late, do follow this story as I can message you on the reasons.**

**3\. I will not write anything about Bleach that may contain spoilers of the series from this chapter on. This story will be pure fanfictions and has no ties to the actual plotline... hopefully xD**

**okay I think thats all for now... I'm even thinking of venturing outside the ichihime bubble and explore the many ships out there. **

**Now start reading, everybody! **

* * *

When Ichigo closed his eyes a moment ago, he was certain he wouldn't make it. He braced himself for the rave of the Kototsu. He took in his last breath, holding it in. His thoughts spun around, branching into all he held dear. Did he die a hero? He would never live to know how people would describe him. Did Ichigo die an honorable death? Would people honour someone who was killed by 3 faulty Arrancars? He sighed. It wouldn't matter anymore. He had let everything attached to him go... Even his princess. He closed his eyes, knowing that even the mad man under his skin surrendered...

But he felt something vacuuming him out. He was sucked through something. It was like a sudden gush of wind that slapped his back, raw and accelerating, and certainly, very alive. His mouth opened and the air inside his lungs let go in a heap of desperate loud gasps. He tumbled onto solid ground with bodies around him. The air smelt of blood, confusion and terror. Ichigo tried to shake the dizziness from his head as his eyes adjusted to the view. Was this... The blue sky? What are these things in front of me? People? He blinked furiously to clear the fuzzy images.

Hands.

* * *

He looked up, greeted by Shuuhei's concerned stare. Beside Shuuhei were shinigamis, people he knew and people who he hadn't met.

Suddenly, everything inside Ichigo had collapsed. He made it out alive! He made it to see the day... Tears seeped through the corner of his eyes. He made it out alive, and there would be a chance. A chance to meet his princess, a chance to meet his family, a chance to rebel against the will of Soul Society.

Ichigo took Shuuhei's arm as he pulled him up. "Take it in slowly... Great job, man." Shuuhei gave a brotherly bear hug as Ichigo rubbed his sore puffy eyelids. Ichigo gathered up his composure. "Not a great job, really. Many were sacrificed." He glanced at the men that fought alongside him.

"They'll be fine. They're not dead." Shuuhei signaled a medical team from behind the Old Man and they came rushing to get the injured to the 4th Squad barracks.  
"Executed excellently, Kurosaki Ichigo..." The Old Man stroked his beard, nodding slightly at Ichigo. "Lieutenant Hisagi, take him to a calm place, let him rest." Shuuhei bowed at his command and brought him towards the shade of a tree. The Captain Commander took one last glance before joining the medical team, taking the injured to the 4th Squad barracks.

Ichigo slumped against its rough bark. The heart that was beating past the speed of sound had slowly began regulating. He let out a sigh. "Hey, want to tell me what went wrong in there? You came out 3 minutes late." Shuuhei sat across from him.

"Something went wrong obviously." Ichigo laughed. "I went Vasto Lorde and killed one of the three. But then these two boys became emotional and started doing everything they can to kill me. The Kototsu arrived by then, and it crushed one of the two, leaving the last one mental and psychotic. I have no idea, maybe it was their relationship but i have never seen an arrancar with so much human emotion..." Ichigo stopped for air. "and it kind of took me aback. Speaking of which, i have wounds!" He looked to either of his side, checking if he was bleeding to death. "No wounds from what i can see." Shuuhei glanced at him questioningly.

"I swear it did! He punctured my side! I'm injured!" Ichigo threw his hands up. "Just get on with it." The black haired young man waved it off. "Okay. The last one was crying and throwing fits at me, but suddenly he just stopped. I guess it was a few seconds before the Kototsu crushed him and he realized he was too late, but he stopped and just stared at me. The weapon left his fingertips and his mouth went wide. I saw a tear rolling down, and then him and I were just blinded by the darkness."  
Shuuhei thought it through. "But still, you were brilliant. No wonder they want you to be the Soul King." Shuuhei slapped Ichigo's back for good measure. Ichigo's lips tighten after this. He leaned his head against the tree.  
"Well, I'll leave you alone. Give you another 15 minutes of privacy." Shuuhei got up, dusted his uniform and walked away to a group of shinigami's who were waiting for him.

Ichigo tipped his head and looked up across the blue sky. It felt so weird to know that in this exact minute, someone would live a life so much more different than his. When he was risking death against arrancars, others would be planting crops in their fields. When he closed his eyes preparing for death, others were laughing happily about their day. Ichigo shook his head and pulled his tears back into his sockets at the thought of Inoue crying while he rested at the exact moment.

Shuuhei came to Ichigo. "Hey." Ichigo hugged his knees as Shuuhei sat in front of him again. "Hey." The orangette peered to the side, avoiding Shuuhei's gaze. "Regarding your Responsibility Trial... In my opinion, i don't think you passed." Shuuhei rubbed his biceps while continuing. "Why?" The issue caught Ichigo's attention, catching Ichigo wide eyed at the sudden information.  
"Like I said, responsibility. I can tell that you felt responsible for so many injuries, but did you take charge of the situation inside the battlefield?" Shuuhei's eyes were made of fire, burning through every defense Ichigo had. "No way..." Ichigo trailed.  
"Until we have an opinion from the injured, i can't let you leave this place. Good luck, Kurosaki Ichigo." A hard squeeze was left on Ichigo's shoulder as Shuuhei walked away.

Under the tree, Ichigo broke into two. What was miserable had become twice as unbearable. Ichigo wanted to die right there and then. No, Ichigo thought, I can't stop here... Not when I went through so much trouble... I can't stop here! Ichigo's fist balled up, veins popped to the surface of his skin as he buried his head in between his knees. Shit, he screamed at himself, he was so close and everything went like the plan would, but now this? This was all that was needed to stop him? Just a small stupid, bloody mistake?

Ichigo cursed and blamed himself as he sat there wishing he could shrink into bare nothingness...

* * *

Hichigo's P.O.V

I honestly don't know what's going on. I swear that damned king has been acting like a victorian woman since hours ago. Can't he ever be stable for two seconds? Jelly fucking babies, even i'm sick and tired of his shit!  
Like really, if I were him. I'd be proud to be whatever Soul King of whatever Soul Society. And it's not like that bitch of his wouldn't ever be here. Sure, it's gonna take a very long time for her to get here, but she would eventually arrive like anyone else.  
I'm just gonna sit back and wait for her to arrive and then i'll take her with me and crown her the Soul Queen. That's easy right? Wasn't that fucking hard if he could be patient, damn.  
I could be feasting in hallways full of food, have pretty ladies change my clothes and bathe me cause fuck, i'm freaking royalty! That could be our charming fate...  
If only...  
If only...  
I spread my limbs out like a starfish in the pure darkness. I haven't told the king about my change yet. Should i tell him? What if i do? What if i didn't? To be honest with ya, i don't even know what's happening to me. One second i'm all bold and wild, the next second i'm all delicate and reserved.  
Does the king know already? I sure hope he does, cause if he didn't, i would be screwed. But... The king has so many problems already, and i just had to add another one to the mix? That's rather unkind of me...  
Fuck.  
For the first time in my somewhat under-a-rock life, i finally understood anxiety.

* * *

"Come on, we have to get to Captain Kyouraku." Shuuhei grabbed Ichigo by his limp forearm and started walking. "It's the... Last trial of the day right?" At that moment, Ichigo looked more like a zombie than a soul. His eyes had sunken, his skin paled, he looked tired. "Just bear with it for a while. It'll be over."

How many times had Ichigo encountered his fear today? How many times had Ichigo cried today? He was devastated, he was exhausted. He didn't want to deal with it anymore. He would have gave up if it wasn't for his lover.

Ichigo sighed. "Alright..." He stood straight and rubbed the redness from his eyes before continuing with Shuuhei.

The walk was long and silent, as if Ichigo was attending a funeral burial. The sky was starting to turn orange, red and purple. Ichigo looked up, but didn't find the sky's beauty astonishing. He shuffled behind Shuuhei, his mind like a broken engine.

In front of the 8th squad barracks were The Old Man, Rukia and Renji. "Yo, Ichigo" Renji whispered at him while Rukia managed a good luck smile. He smiled in return and nodded at Renji before entering Captain Kyouraku's office. It was getting cold outside, but Ichigo wasn't appreciating the sweltering hot condition inside the office.  
"Nanao~ Where's the sake~?" The drunk captain's voice echoed from a paneled door. "Yes, captain." The paneled door was opened by Nanao who was startled by Ichigo's presence. She bowed at the pair before heading back to the captain. "Captain Kyouraku, Kurosaki Ichigo has arrived." Nanao ushered them in before closing the paneled door.

"Yo~ Kurosaki-san?" The goateed captain sipped from his cup of sake. "Yes sir."  
"Hisagi-san, you can leave." He raised his cup at Shuuhei, who bowed and left Ichigo to fend for his last task of the day. The Captain coughed.

"Well, loosen up, big man. This task has nothing challenging in it at all. After all, you certainly need a break." Kyouraku poured himself more sake. "Want some?" He dared Ichigo to get drunk before the mission. Ichigo bravely shook his head. "Your challenge is..." He sent a chilling glare up Ichigo's spine.  
"Nanao-san~! Sort out my paperworks before you leave!" The drunkard shouted at nothing. "Anyways, your mission is to play a game of chess with me. English chess." He took a set from under a small table. "Not that hard, I presume?"  
"No, sir." Ichigo look puzzled. He considered himself an average chess player in class, but he could never go against a captain! "Ah, but there's a twist." Of course there's a twist-Ichigo thought-My life won't be mine if it isn't twisted!  
Captain Kyouraku placed his cup away and played with the Pawn piece in the chess set. "Each of these pieces represent someone important in your life. Friends, family, lovers, even rivals. You hold their fate in this game, you control them." He placed it on the centre of the board. "Give them a name, Ichigo. Tell them why you chose them. I've already chosen mine this morning~...it took so long!" The seriousness was washed away by Captain Kyouraku's inevitable drunkenness.  
Ichigo thought hard at it. What should he name them? How did their role match with the ones on the board? Who could protect him? Who could be his secret weapon into defeating Captain Drunk?

He scratched his head.

"Can I opt not to… you know, play with their lives?" Ichigo said after some time. "Hmm, fine~ But I know I have named them" Captain Kyouraku leaned in, cocking an eyebrow. "You sure, young man?"

"I'm sure."

"Let the games begin!" Captain Kyouraku cheered out loud, so loud that Ichigo clapped his ears shut. He placed a white pawn on e4 and looked at Ichigo. Ichigo, who was still shocked from knowing he had to win a game against a captain, placed his black pawn on e5 as a reflex. The atmosphere was dense and quiet, concentrated with intelligence and game strategies.

The captain placed another pawn, now on f4. Ichigo pushed a pawn to d5. "Haha, wrong move, Ichigo-San~" He laughed out and killed Ichigo's pawn, taking his own pawn to d5. Ichigo cursed under his breath, pushing his second pawn to e4. "I can't win this…" Ichigo croaked in demise.

"Of course you can't! What do you expect, tough guy?" Captain Kyouraku muttered back, putting his knight to c3. Ichigo placed his knight on f6. The captain then responded with a pawn to d3.

"Dammit!" Ichigo shouted, balling his fist. His pawn got killed again! Wait, Ichigo thought, didn't the captain say he named all his chess pieces? "Captain? I thought you said you used your people to play this game…" Ichigo asked, curious to see some chess battle action.  
"Shhh…. Concentrate, buddy." The captain frowned upon Ichigo's tanned face.  
Ichigo sighed and pushed his bishop to b4. Swiftly, Captain Kyouraku positioned his bishop to d2, protecting the king. "You almost got me there, Kurosaki Ichigo-san~" He laughed, snapping his fingers. He then took a swig of sake before continuing the game.

Ichigo thought hard this time. If he performed any other actions, it won't help him win the game. This is great, Ichigo thought, this is just what I wanted after a long stupid day of battling strong forces, I could just lay back and play a game of death cheddar with this man, great.

So he pondered about his next action, could he use another bishop? Perhaps use a knight? Let a pawn step forward? He bit his lips, wanting to surrender. "Just move ya e4 pawn to e3 ya piece of fucktard" Ichigo heard his demon speak, as if the demon was watching him all along.

So he moved as he was told to do so, even though he knew the pawn was a sacrifice. Blind trust, he said, blindly trusting the evil within.

Captain Kyouraku wasn't impressed at all. He killed the e3 pawn with his d2 bishop, taking its place. His eyebrows were knitted, questioning Ichigo's every move.

Ichigo was aware of the sudden situation, seeing how far the game had advance into. He could win this game, he was sure of it! He switched his king to g8 and his rook to f8, creating an open space for the captain's king. Captain Kyouraku took his e2 bishop and returned it to its previous place, d2.

Ichigo laughed internally, using his b4 bishop to kill the c3 white knight. He was performing a trade, but the Captain look too confused to understand it well. And so, the Captain did what he could, placing a b2 pawn to kill off Ichigo's black bishop. He thought he could save his white bishops using such a method, but he was wrong.

Now, Ichigo moved his rook to e8 which was followed by an f1 bishop to e2 from Captain Kyouraku. The Captain was having a hard time understanding Ichigo, so he took action by defending his king as much as he can. Ichigo didn't look up, he wanted to focus on the epic gess battle they were having, so he placed a c8 bishop to g4, taunting the Captain. The Captain had no choice but to move his c3 pawn to c4, trying to keep his extra pawn on d5 safe.

"Ah this is bad…" The Captain mumbled, taking another giant swig. Ichigo placed a pawn from c7 to c6, trying to impose an attack on the white pawns. The Captain attack the c6 pawn with his d5 pawn, but little did he know…

Ichigo used his b8 knight and crushed the d5 pawn, the one Captain Kyouraku thought could have been saved, before positioning the knight on c6.

Captain Kyouraku emptied the bottle of sake and shouted "Nanao, another one!" he looked pissed to be caught off guard so many times by Ichigo, ultimately losing. He moved his white king to f1, allowing the bishop on e2 to attack.

Ichigo scoffed and placed his e8 rook to e2, killing the bishop. Now, the white knight was moved to e2, ending the rook's life, making Captain Kyouraku smile.

"Captain your sake." Nanao bent down and placed a few bottles before leaving silently, aware that she should not know what the two were doing with the chess board inside. Captain Kyouraku popped open the lid of the sake bottle and began drinking as Ichigo watched. The orangette moved the c6 knight to d4, ganging up on the poor defense of the whites.

The white queen on d1 was removed from its position, fleeing to the sidelines on b1 to avoid being a victim of the game. The black bishop then takes the life of the white knight on e2, prompting the king to move from f1 to f2. Captain Kyouraku was red in the face, not able to come up with a single strategy against Ichigo. Ichigo's black knight moved from f6 to f4, cornering the poor white king.

Ichigo took his d5 knight to f3, sacrificing it to the white pawn of g2. The Captain jolted at the action, sitting upright and spilling some sake onto his flowery haori. "You are one naughty player, I can tell." The Captain wiped the sake from his mouth and stared at Ichigo. Ichigo moved his black queen to d4.

Ichigo was wiping his sweaty hands on the Shinigami uniform but it was a useless attempt. His hands were like wet sponges and it felt disgusting. He was so close to winning, he couldn't even comprehend the sweat forming all over himself. Captain Drunk moved his white king to g2, letting Ichigo move his queen to f2. Their fists both balled up for the epic hide and seek of the white king and the black queen.

Captain Kyouraku let his king run to h3 while Ichigo placed his queen on f3. When the white kind lands on h4, the black knight on g4 moved to h6, leaving the whites defenseless. The Captain then used his white queen on b1, placing it on g1 for support. It was a fatal move for the Captain and it did not sit well in his sake-filled belly.

Ichigo's black knight moved to f6, awaiting the poor king to arrive. Since Captain Kyouraku was bound for doom, he went along with Ichigo's plan and brought his king to g6, to which Ichigo cornered with his black queen to h6.

"Checkmate…..." Ichigo muttered. "Holy shit CHECKMATE!" He cheered, punching the air in triumph as he rolled over on his back. "I DID IT I DID IT I DID IT I WON YESSSS!" He never acted so childish before and this time, he didn't blame himself for doing so. Today was over, the trials were over, he could go to bed, he could watch his love again, he could sleep and rest and finally plan his great escape to the living world.

"Morphy's massacre, yeah? That was a good one. Alright you pass, Ichigo-san~" Kyouraku stood up and slid the door open for Ichigo, watching him go with renewed energy and brighter hazel eyes.

"Coast clear." Kyouraku said when Ichigo reached a far distance with Renji by his side. "That was some dirty acting, Shunsui…" Ukitake sighed, climbing through the window along with Mayuri, Kenpachi and Yachiru, Toshiro and Shuuhei.

"Why do you need to loosen up on that scrawny thing? Get him to fight like a real man!" Kenpachi huffed, pouring himself a cup of sake. "Yeah! A real man!" Yachiru cheered on.

"I have to agree with Captain Zaraki and Lieutenant Kusajishi, this is no way to train the next soul king…" Shuuhei folded his arms, shaking his head.

Mayuri was busy checking out the chess board, trying to find new information about the future soul king while Toshiro looked on.

"I know, Shuuhei-kun… But it seems pretty unfair to take away a living teenager's life so that he could be Soul King." Kyouraku sighed, shutting the panel door. "He isn't a living teenager, he never was, Kyouraku." Toshiro frowned at the goatee captain.

"He is a being made from everything. Part Shinigami, part hollow, part quincy, part fullbring, part human…. Too much to recount. I need Nemu here to help me gather these informations."

"Right…" Ukitake half smiled at Mayuri before continuing, "Shunsui, none of what you did and said to him was truthful. You can't just lie to him saying that he has to cast names onto the chess pieces. You didn't even give it your all…"

"I just want to make it easier for him…" Shunsui sat down with Kenpachi and poured a drink.

"I want sweets! Give me sweets!" Yachiru snatched some candy from Ukitake's pockets before he could realise it. "You can't go easy when you have to proof the next Soul King is suitable for the throne!" Ukitake exclaimed.

"But you and I know he won't ever be the Soul King if she isn't around. He'll escape, that's for sure." Shunsui poured more for Kenpachi.

"Nice, man." Kenpachi cheered to both the sake and Kyouraku's strategy.

"I know…" Ukitake replied, glancing at the moonlight shining upon them.

* * *

**oh this is a long chapter. I'm surprised you made it here! Tell me what you think about it and don't forget to favourite and follow me! **

**Also, the chess battle is confusing so I'll give you guys the link: **** /YGU2r0gf_QU**

**As always, thanks for reading :D**


	12. Chapter 12

**Wheww I did it! Thanks for enjoying my previous chapters and I hope you'll enjoy this one just as much! Until then, toodles!**

* * *

"You're crazy amazing, Ichigo! Doing all of that in a day… Damn sure you're getting the Soul King job up there" Renji gave a heavy slap to Ichigo's back, prompting Ichigo to stand up straight. "H-huh… y-yeah.." Ichigo was exhausted. He couldn't feel his fingers anymore and his legs weigh a ton, his eyelids wanted to shut the lights out already. "Rukia made dinner by the way. She told me to tell you not to skip it or else she would throw you into the Koi pond. Don't even think she can lift you up and throw you into a bucket of water." Renji kept walking as he talked with his hands behind his head relaxingly, but it was a struggle for Ichigo to keep up. Ichigo chuckled so he didn't sound awkward since he was silent. "She did lift me up once if I could remember… don't underestimate your girlfriend, Renji" Ichigo walked behind Renji, looking tired and ghostly.

"True… wait. She's not my girlfriend what the hell!" Renji shouted, looking back at the smirking Ichigo. "You can say that all day and no one would believe you, tattoo statue." Ichigo liked teasing Renji, it made him felt like they were brothers, but he didn't think their brotherhood will last when Ichigo escapes from Soul Society.

"Go in. I'm pretty sure Captain Kuchiki is still mad at you so act polite if you see him. SUPER polite." Renji slid the door open for both of them, entering the Kuchiki manor. "ICHIGO!" Rukia flew in and high five Ichigo's face with her foot.

"Oh shit!" Ichigo fell ungracefully and landed butt first into his room. "Why the… Why would you even do that?!" He shouted at a mischievous-looking Rukia and Renji. Renji shrugged in response, "who knows?".

On the floor there was a tray of food piled mountain high with Chappy Bunny carved on it along with the words "Good Job!".

"Uhm… yeah thanks for the food Rukia" Ichigo turned his head over and stared at the short maiden. "Will leave you to it then. Good luck with the food Ichigo!" Renji dragged Rukia out of the room before she could say a word. She's probably start a verbal fight with Ichigo anyway.

Ichigo sat down to his food, tapping his fingers on the bowl as he ate. "I'll definitely have to shower after this, probably sink myself in the hot tub…"

The sound of radio static blasted through his eardrums out of the blue, making him shake violently for a second. "What the…" Ichigo tried plugging his ears, but it was of no use. Suddenly, a screen popped up in front of him and the static died down. "Is this thing on?" Urahara waves his fan from across the screen.

"Oh god… that hurts…" Ichigo shook the aftermath off his head and began to ate again. "So what's up Urahara-san?" He asked, chewing his food.

"Ohh… not good it seems. You see, today Yoruichi and Ururu went to Orihime-San's place and helped her pack some groceries. And in the food that we placed in her fridge were injected with anti-depressants." Urahara was showing Ichigo the vial of drug and a shopping bag full of food. Ichigo nodded and kept eating, eager to know about everything. "Well let's just be glad she ate something, but the anti-depressant was doing a terrible job at it. What's worse, we've already injected a high dosage, which makes no sense that there wouldn't be a change."

Ichigo almost spat his rice out. "anti-depressants? High dosage? What the hell?" He drank some tea. "Yeah, well. The thing is that if we continue to up the dosage it might kill her so I'm in the middle of inventing something she can wear but not feel it." Urahara coughed into his fan. "Which also means please hurry back or Orihime-san won't stay sane any longer"

Ichigo's food was sent flying across the floor. He had swiped it all off with his hands in anger that there were tears in his eyes. The soup had burned his fingertips and the meat and eggs landed on his futon. Ichigo had enough. He was trying his absolute best already and no one noticed. A "good job" here and another pat on the shoulder doesn't mean they cared about what he was feeling. He was down and drained and hopeless. The things he had to do was taking a toll on him. How could Urahara keep urging him to speed up?

"Hey hey~~ Ichigo-San, calm down. I know it's hard on you but everyone here is counting on you and in fact. I'm here now to give you some advice and plans I have up my sleeve, so isn't it good enough?" Urahara waved his fan to the screen. "Well fine." Ichigo rubbed his teary eyes. "Do you have the device with you? The earpiece?" Urahara dropped the fan and began typing some stuff onto a keyboard. "Yeah sure." Ichigo took off the earpiece, the one that Urahara gave him last night to understand the basis of what was happening in Soul Society and threw it onto the screen. The earpiece went through and Urahara caught it in time. "You'll have to give it some time for it to render, but in the meantime, I'll run you through my plans."

"You have to be the Soul King right, but you want to return here into the living world, yes? And so, you're torn apart on what to do since the Soul Society claims that without the Soul King, it's the end of the world. But what if you traded the Soul King version of yourself to your hollow?" Urahara was busy typing and switching things on from the other side as he explained.

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked, eyebrows furrowed. "It means why don't you swap places with your hollow? We can separate you two and he can be the Soul King while you come down to the living world. With that said, you don't have to be torn apart by the decisions you have to make." Ichigo was taken aback from Urahara's plan. "I mean, you can do that? Didn't they say I'm unbreakable from my hollow? Isn't Soul Society going to find out?" He was baffled. Could he finally break free from his inner demon? A part of Ichigo felt happy about it, but the other part, he wasn't sure. "Well, I can try and honestly, I don't think it's any difficult. Soul Society will never allow this obviously, which means we have to wait it out until you come back to the living world. And… rendering complete." Urahara tilted his hat slightly to look at Ichigo.

"this… are we seriously going to do this?" Ichigo was shivering with nervousness. "it's the only plan we've got it seems. You'll have to be returning to the living world the night on the day after tomorrow. The soul society will shut down the Dangai for the coronation of the soul king, so I will have you hack into Mayuri's Dangai lab and sneak out from there."

Ichigo stared mindlessly at Urahara. "You can't be serious. Me? In a psycho lab? Hacking? How am I supposed to do all of that?" Urahara coughed "Well I just installed a new feature in this earpiece. I can run you through the know-how's once the time comes for it. Take it back." Urahara tossed it to Ichigo, who failed to catch it.

"Ichigo-San, I am very proud and honored for you. I'll be waiting here with everyone so please come back as soon as possible, no rush of course. We miss you and all the best for tomorrow." Urahara bowed slightly to Ichigo and switched the screen off to Orihime's room.

Ichigo clutched the earpiece with one hand and the other to touch the screen. It buzzed and stung his flesh as tears fell from his face unknowingly. "Inoue…"

The door was slid right open and the screen disappeared. "What the hell happened in here?!" Renji shouted as he looked at the floor of thrown food and at the crying Ichigo who was hugging his knees. "...nothing…" Ichigo's finger waved at thin air, hoping for the screen to pop up again.

"What the hell, man…" Renji entered the room and started cleaning up the mess, all while watching the Ichigo sink his head in between his knees. Renji sighed and walked out the room to get a mop and a broom to clean Ichigo's mess.

And Ichigo kept waving his finger in thin air while crying, because what he wrote in the air was "Inoue."

* * *

**How did you feel about this chapter? Fav/Follow and definitely review if you want more of this story! Thanks guys!**


	13. Chapter 13

**a little late with the upload for this one cause the net was terrible! Its shirt but I hope you guys enjoy this just as I do and stick around for more!**

* * *

"Sorry." Ichigo furiously wiped his tears off after Renji finished mopping the place. "Nah… Don't sweat it. I get it you're having a rough day so you need to release the stress. I don't know how to tell Rukia you threw her food though so… Take care, buddy." Renji laughed it out and slid the door close, his footsteps lingering the corridor outside Ichigo's room.

"Inoue…" Ichigo whispered to himself. "Inoue…" He kept going at it until her name didn't feel like a name anymore, because all he did while saying her name was thinking about Urahara's plan. To escape Soul Society, to break free from his demon… Would he really want that? He was and is attached to the Mad Man in some way, and he long believed that he can't be separated from Hichigo… So why would Urahara say he could be? And what if he really did want to swap lives with the demon within?

"King. Ah yeah we needa talk here." The edgy eerie tone settled in his mind again. Hichigo?, Ichigo thought. "Sup King. I see you're seated quite nicely, so just bear with me as I talk."

* * *

Hichigo's P.O.V

I heard Hat Bitch Urahara's plan and honestly, I see no reason why King should even doubt it. Like hell, he could return to that main hoe of his without throwing hissy fits anymore. I can finally walk and talk without being in some orange dude's mind.

"I'm kind of turning a lil tipsy here. Sounds crazy I know like Woah but it's happening. Its driving me nuts." It's not a good way to start a conversation like that, but it's the only time I can draw his attention. "What do you mean?" He looked just as confused as always to me, it's funny how confusion is his normal choice of emotion. "Remember when Crazy Paint Face injected some shit in your arm? Yeah well that's directed at me. He's trying to turn me over into something else. Like I don't know. Since when have I gone soft at your buttface? Well after that, I did. I did start questioning your feelings and considering the best choices for you. Shit right?" I tried laughing to sweat things off, but it kind of freaked King the fuck out.

"So he did that to you? I always thought you acted weird today. What happened?" Ichigo sat as calmly as he could, but I can see his fingers nervously folding over each other. "When he injected both you and I, we passed out. Just suddenly feeling nauseous and sick, wanted to throw up but didn't, was confused but didn't ask, probably having fever but no one could tell. Fainted along with you, but woke up a lot later than you did. Felt like something weighing me down, like stones or some shit." I paced around in his mind, biting my lips as I speak.

"Does it… hurt?" There was a pause in his voice, like I'm terminally fucking ill or something. "Of course it does you dumbwit. Imagine walking around in a cloud with a migraine." It hurts even more now when the King stopped to listen to me, but I didn't speak about it. "Do you want to.. you know, get out?" The king cleared his throat, deep in thought.

"Like hell if I got any say in this. I don't even need an opinion. Do whatever you want, king. I'm not the one that calls the shots here." It's hard to spit the correct words out when I'm in this state. I know I'm not the person I was anymore, and that totally confuses the living hollow out of me.

"Will you be mad if I swapped places with you?" He sounded sincere and thoughtful, and I felt so bad that I'm lashing out at him. "Told ya, no opinions here." Sometimes I wish I didn't know what I was saying… just sometimes…

"Hichigo… I know I've never said this before… But I'm really thankful to have you here." The king has tears in his eyes, just like every other time. He must be thinking that he's guilty and selfish for throwing me away, but I don't want him to know I wished I didn't have to leave. We've been with each other for quite some time, I saved his ass for so long it felt like a routine… And now I know I won't do that anymore…

"Fuck." My eyes stung and my vision turned blurry. Salt water sprung from my fucking eyes like a fucking baby. I'm a hollow with no emotions, so why am I crying? What the fuck is this?

"Then let's make the best out of the few days we have left" The king wiped his tears away from his puffy eyes. I'm glad he didn't cry as much. "Yeah King…" I muffled.

"You won't be calling me King for long now, Hichigo…"

* * *

Ichigo rolled in bed, tossing and turning for hours.

If he traded the hollow out of himself, he would be hollowed out. Hichigo wouldn't say anything and wanted nothing to do with Ichigo's plan. He'll take it as it comes, Ichigo heard.

"I'm doing it."

There's nothing stopping Ichigo. He would do anything it takes for a chance to be with his love. A hollow like Hichigo is just a sidestep, a challenge to face. Ichigo exhaled, rolling to his side again and closed his eyes.

He felt really bad, but it was the only thing he could do.

It was all or nothing.

* * *

**so what are your thoughts in this? Let me know if you enjoyed it and as usual, review/follow/favourite the story! Love you all so so much and thanks for keeping up with the story!**


End file.
